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Discover the top art openings in Joburg this week, longer-running exhibitions worth your while, and dates to put in the diary.
First Thursdays comes to Keyes Art Mile on Thu, May 2 with a luminous exhibition by the great Maggie Laubser, an affordable art sale, and plenty more to enjoy. See our guide. Elsewhere this week, we're looking forward to Jonathan Freemantle's post-residency solo The Fallen Tree at Gallery MOMO; distinctly autumnal and inspired by the landscapes of Scotland. Meanwhile, in Still Waters at Goodman Gallery, Surinamese-Dutch artist Remy Jungerman weaves the history of his people into his work.
Egyptian artists Lamis Haggag and Mina Nasr's dual exhibition at Goethe-Institut is mythologically laden, with experiential elements that require an in-person viewing. While in the city, the duo's been exploring traditional methods of food preparation as part of their ongoing research project Cooking Sunshine. You're invited to share a sun-cooked meal with them on Sun, May 5 – find the details here.
In a remarkable twist of fate, a series of works by visionary South African artist Mmakgabo Helen Sebidi was rediscovered after disappearing without a trace over 30 years ago. They're being shown to the public for the first time on home soil at UJ Art Gallery in the celebratory exhibition Ntlo E Etsamayang (The Walking House). Sebidi is a legend amongst us; make sure you see this show.
The landmark showcase Resilience and Reflection at the Apartheid Museum joins the chorus in exhibitions celebrating South Africa's unsung art heroes. This presentation of repatriated works by pivotal black artists who recorded township life in the dark days of apartheid is required viewing as the country's next general elections draw ever nearer.
Further down the line, mark your calendars for two of South Africa's most exciting art fairs in May. The open studios event Contra.Joburg has a new name and the most exciting line-up yet, while RMB Latitudes once again touches down at the magnificent Shepstone Gardens. Best of all, these very different art fairs continue their partnership this year, with a shuttle travelling between the two. It's going to be an art-filled weekend for the books.
For a full guide to what’s on in Joburg, explore our events calendar. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter published every Thursday morning. For extra daily updates, follow our Instagram page.
ART HIGHLIGHTS
Opening Thu, May 2 from 17:00 – Artists Rick Baloyi, Mashudu Nevhutalu, and Vanessa Tembane reflect on the meaning of home in Lizamore & Associate's evocative group show at Workshop 17 Firestation.Opening Fri, May 3 from 14:00 – 17:00 – Jonathan Freemantle unveils a series of paintings and woodcarvings created during his seven-month residency at the Hugo Burge Foundation in Scotland. The Fallen Tree at Gallery MOMO draws on diverse influences from Jackson Hlungwani, an artist Freemantle has long admired, as well as Japanese Zen painting, African ritual masks, and the natural world.
Opening Sat, May 4 from 10:30 – In Still Waters at Goodman Gallery, the artist's first major solo exhibition on the continent, Remy Jungerman continues his exploration of Surinamese Maroon culture, the larger African diaspora, and 20th-century modernism. Join a walkabout led by Jungerman from 11:00.
Opening Sat, May 4 from 10:00 – 18:00 – Key to the City, an analogue photography exhibition by Hayden Jennings exploring local graffiti culture, opens at Grayscale Gallery's project space. There'll be music, food, and live graffiti on the day.
Until Fri, May 17 – In 1991, Mmakgabo Helen Sebidi's art took her to Sweden where she was set to exhibit a series of works. While she waited, the pieces were lost without a trace. It's remarkable that 32 years since their disappearance, 28 of Sebidi's artworks were rediscovered and have since returned home. These long-lost treasures are shown to the public for the first time in Ntlo E Etsamayang (The Walking House) at UJ Art Gallery.
Until Wed, Jul 31 – In Resilience and Reflection, the Apartheid Museum showcases works from the Ifa Lethu Foundation's phenomenal collection. Created by black South African artists like Dumile Feni, Winston Saoli, and David Phoshoko Mothapeng, these pieces have been repatriated from 16 countries and provide a record of life in the townships during the dark days of apartheid.
FIRST THURSDAYS
Rare works by one of the country's most well-known women artists and a collection of landscapes across time and space are a delight to behold at the May edition of First Thursdays. Beyond great art, there's no shortage of food, drinks, and music to enjoy at Keyes Art Mile. See you there on Thu, May 2 from 17:00.
Thu, May 2 – With nothing over R5,000, discover masterpieces that won't break the bank at Origin Art's monthly Unlocking Your Collection sale.
Thu, May 2 from 19:00 – Also at Origin Art, flex your art chops with a fun and friendly quiz. RSVP here.
Until Thu, May 2 – Harare-born artist Phillipah Rumano pays homage to the resilience of the human spirit in her solo show Women of Stone at Origin Art.
Until Sat, May 4 – Self-taught artist Bahati Simoens's Sunset Market is still showing at BKhz Gallery – a solo exhibition of surreal, vibrant paintings.
Until end May – One of the leading South African artists in the Expressionist movement, Maggie Laubser's utterly lovely works show in the Annex of Keyes Art Mile's Trumpet building. (Outside of First Thursdays, viewings are by appointment only. Email info@tmrw.art to arrange a timeslot.)
Until end May – Incredible landscapes spanning mediums, styles, and eras are brought together in Near and Far at Keyes Art Mile's Gallery 1 and Atrium spaces. These rarely-seen works from a private collection are a joyous journey. (Outside of First Thursdays, viewings are open on Wed – Fri from 10:00 – 16:00 and Sat from 09:00 – 13:00.)
LAST CHANCE TO SEE
Until Fri, May 3 – Interdependence is key to harmony in the natural world. It is this notion that Bronwyn Katz explores in a first solo with Stevenson Gallery, titled Stone's embrace, a love spiral of erosion and renewal.SOLO SHOWS
Until Tue, May 14 – Guns & Rain's group show Into One's Own: Reckoning with Monuments & Memory is an intimate look at how artists in South Africa, Namibia, and Zimbabwe have grappled with colonial legacies.Until Sat, May 18 – A solo project by Peter Cohen, Dissolving Realities opens at David Krut's The Blue House. The artist creates layered daydreams out of commonplace scenery to interrogate the reliability of memory. Read our 2022 interview with Cohen here.
Until Sat, May 25 – Fumani Maluleke's scenes of the South African countryside come to life on grass mat canvasses in Tsalwa lerintswa (The New Scroll) at Everard Read's Circa Gallery.
Until Sat, May 25 – In the solo show Formed at Everard Read's Circa Gallery, Lionel Smit continues his exploration of the symbiotic relationship between sculpture and painting.
Until Sat, May 25 – Michael MacGarry's solo exhibition The System Absorbs All Opposition at Everard Read continues his legacy as an artist refusing neat definition. You'll have to see it for yourself.
Until Sun, May 26 – Following his six-week residency, Abdus Salaam’s first solo exhibition is held at Nirox Sculpture Park. Spread across three spaces, the artist explores love in its terrestrial, ethereal, and divine forms in Insaan (Human Being).
Until Thu, May 30 – The title alone for August House resident artist Itumeleng 'Mamase' Koloko's solo show at Rand Club packs a punch: This is a Man's World, but it Wouldn't be Anything Without a Woman or a Girl. Through mixed mediums of oil, charcoal, pastel, and acrylic, it's the artist's ode to the numinous nature of women.
Until end May – Offbeat Cape Town-based graffiti artist Slegh (aka @krinkywinky) gets his first solo exhibition of paintings, prints, embroidery, and more in Infekted by Dolphins at Braamfontein's Grayscale Gallery.
Until Sun, Jun 2 – Sculptor and ceramicist Natalie de Morney honours her San ancestry in her first solo exhibition, Re-Connections, at Berman Contemporary. Also at 223 Jan Smuts, Dalingcebo (Dali) Ngubane explores the concept of chaos in religion, mathematics, community, and the individual, in Chaos, A Theory with Candice Berman Gallery.
Until Mon, Jun 17 – There's no denying his artful eye when it comes to garment construction, but Lukhanyo Mdingi is venturing further into the art world with The Provenance Part II. Showing in the Women’s Jail at Constitution Hill, the exhibition is concerned with the preservation of archives – textiles, literature, and music – as they relate to Bantu indigeneity.
Until Sat, Jun 19 – The result of seven years of archival and field research, writer and artist Bettina Malcomess's film cycle Sentimental Agents tracks the journey of "a technician of minor histories, trying to tell the story of cinema's place in the South African War". Public programming around the exhibition at Wits Art Museum (WAM) responds to the resonance between this war history and our contemporary moment, making this a show you'll want to visit, and re-visit again.
Until Sun, Jul 7 – Tatenda Magaisa's multimedia exhibition It wearies me; you say it wearies you at Johannesburg Art Gallery (JAG) explores sanity and overwhelm with a touch of humour.
Ongoing – Renowned artist and photographer Roger Ballen's semi-permanent exhibition End of the Game at the Inside Out Centre for the Arts chronicles the practice of unrestrained hunting. Ballen will host walkabouts of the show, which will change periodically with input from various collaborators, on the first Saturday of every month. Follow @insideoutcentre on Instagram for details.
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
Opening Fri, May 3 from 17:45 – If you love art and pangolins in equal measure, head to Everard Read's Circa Gallery for a fundraising auction to support the conservation initiatives of the African Pangolin Working Group.Until Sat, May 11 – Threading Through the Collections at Wits Art Museum (WAM) is a journey through sub-Saharan Africa in textile form. Including raffia fibre and beaten-bark cloth, tapestries, embroideries, and fabrics dyed with indigo and mud, the works span a wide geographic region and illustrate the significance of textiles across the continent over time. It's just beautiful.
Until Sat, May 11 – In Umpteen Impossible Things Before Breakfast at Gallery 2, see recent works by the University of Johannesburg's dynamic staff in the faculty of art, design, and architecture including Kim Berman, Bevan de Wet, and Gordon Froud.
Until end May – See a temporary showcase drawn from the acclaimed Bongi Dhlomo Collection (dating back to the 1960s) at Javett-UP, featuring some of the country's most prominent black artists.
Until Fri, May 31 – Artists Lamis Haggag and Mina Nasr explore the connections between the hadeda and sacred ibis (a prominent figure in Egyptian mythology) in Navigating Iridescence at Goethe-Institut.
Until Sun, Jun 2 – Pretoria Art Museum gets its moment in the sun with 60 Years of Artistic Journey, a retrospective exhibition chronicling the museum's evolution since it was founded in 1964. There are sure to be some special works on show.
Until Sun, Jun 2 – Berman Contemporary shines light on seven emerging and early-career artists in The New Vanguard at their 223 Jan Smuts gallery.
Ongoing – The South African Gold Coin Exchange and the Scoin Shop are behind a permanent exhibition, We Love Mandela, at The Marc in Sandton Central. The group show charts some of the most important milestones in Nelson Mandela's life through paintings, textiles, and sculptural works.
SAVE THE DATE
Sat, May 18 from 11:00 – Join provocative photographer Roger Ballen as he reflects on his career and latest publication, Polaroids, at the Rand Club ballroom. There's no charge but bookings are essential. RSVP here.Fri, May 24 – Sun, May 26 – One of Joburg's premier art experiences returns to Shepstone Gardens this May. Early-bird tickets for the RMB Latitudes 2024 art fair are already sold out and we suggest you get yours soon – go here.
Sat, May 25 – Sun, May 26 – A unique, on-the-ground art festival, Contra.Joburg is the biggest open studios event in South Africa. Get your tickets here.
Tue, Jun 4 and Wed, Jun 5 – Calling South Africa's rising art stars: entries are open for the 2024 Sasol New Signatures Art Competition. Get your works ready for submission at one of several collection points across the country. In addition to a R100,000 cash prize, the winner gets a solo exhibition at the Pretoria Art Museum. Read our interview with the 2023 winner Nosiviwe Matikinca here.
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