Jane Alexander: Surveys (from the Cape of Good Hope)

The exhibition Jane Alexander: Surveys (from the Cape of Good Hope) was presented by the Museum for African Art in collaboration with the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City from April to July 2013. Through combinations of sculpted figures, tableaux, installations, and photographic work, this exhibition offered viewers a rare opportunity to explore the scope of Alexander’s artistic universe. Against the backdrop of apartheid and its aftermath, Alexander’s artistic practice draws on her sensitivity to sociopolitical issues to examine the hybridity and mutability of human existence. In its cathedral setting, this presentation of her work also created space to reflect on questions of faith and demonstrated the powerful dialogues that can emerge when contemporary art is shown in social environments with deep historical, societal, or spiritual resonances.