Art On My Mind: Visual Politics (review)

VI TA ART NOW JOHANNESBURG ART GALLERY EVERY YEAR, VITA ART NOW presents itself as an overview of the best contemporary art in the Gauteng region and every year there are debates about the selection process. I t is in the nature of competitions that those included are compared with those excluded. The debates are more often than not, however, simply academic and ultimately ensure the success of the exhibition through public debate. I n the past, the number of judges and variety of their positions meant that the selection process kept itself in check and prejudice at bay. Last year, unfortunately, the individual judges were each allocated a geographic area from which they then made their individual selections. While the catalogue acknow ledges this process, the choices of each judge are not revealed and thus they cannot be held accountable for their actions. On the other hand, Michael Coulson has in his Financial Mail reviews militantly positioned himself in favor of art that visually ingratiates itself to the viewer at the same time as indulging in its own technical virtuosity. This position in itself is not problematic, but it does mean that if an exhibition that does not subscribe to Coulsonis defined conception of art is presented within his allocated area, then the artist might not be given a fair assessment. I n their catalogue essays, the judges articulately masked their own personal prejudices and conceptual positions behind rhetorical camouflage. Coulson proposes instead that iThose who donit like the message this conveys shouldm't shoot the messenger!} This blatant refusal by Vita Art Now as a whole, to accept responsibility for curatorial actions, and maint aining instead a passive relationship with their subjects, proves ultimately extremely harmful for the state of contemporary art in South Africa. I n this context even Willem Boshoff, the only one who had the courage to be honest about his choices, becomes complicit by remaining on the panel as a judge and as an artist. This lack of commitment was reflected in every aspect of the show. There was an inconsistency in terms of selection criteria as well as the standard of work presented . From iAfricusi, for inst ance, Roger Meintjes was Jane Alexander, Stripped ("Oh Yes" Girl), tesy Johannesburg Art Gallery. selected but Marlene Dumas was not. Both are South African born artists who currently reside in Europe and have represented European countries for the Biennial ( Portugal and Holland respectively). While Dumas was not considered good enough by the Vita judges, she later represented Holland at the prestigious Venice Biennial and has already been selected for Dokumenta, universally acknowledged to be the most important contemporary art exhibition in the w orld. Similarly William Kentridge was rejected by Vita but was selected for the Sydney Biennial, the I stanbul Biennial, as well as for the next Dokumenta. Vita Art Now is defiantly parochial and aesthetically prejudiced precisely at a time when South African artists are finally making progress in taking their rightful places within in the international arena. This is the only reason why, for instance, Marc Edwardsi blatant plagiarism of a crashed car by Bertrand Lavier can be accepted while Lavier himself who represented France in iAfricusi can be rejected on the grounds of mixed media, courhis ethnicity. The judges, organizers, and sponsors of Vita Art Now seem unable to accept the course that contemporary art is taking in South Africa. Being a non-commercial exhibition, Vita Art Now has all the potential to be a pro-active and nurturing influence on the course of our art history. I nstead, it has turned its back on the spirit of contemporaneity, refusing to accept responsibility for what it purports to represent. As such it is undeserving of any debate that this or any other review will generate , but silence could on the other hand be read as consent. Art competitions appear to have a 10 year life span built into them after which they find themselves being suffocated by their historical prejudices. Vita Art Now must accept that if it does not now radically reconceptualize its strategy and embrace the needs of the present, then it too w ill become just another name on...