Great collectable art books and art to choose from at David Krut
By Edward Tsumele
One of the pleasures of this time is when goods that are normally expensive are on special, and this is quite important, especially for a society who pockets have been left leaking due to the effect of Cvid-19. I mean some people lost their jobs as businesses effected staff cutting measures to stay afloat, and those lucky enough to still hold jobs have seen their salaries reduced, and in some extreme cases as much as 50 percent. However with the festive season upon us, there are bound to be specials for one pick up.
It is a Saturday mid morning, and I am at David Krut Gallery and Book store in Parkwood at the famous Blue House. There is a hive of activity as visitors steam in and immerse themselves in viewing art as well as going through a collection of books that are on sale.
The reason for me being there though is to view a group exhibition featuring the works of some of the most sort after artists by collectors. These artists’ works of course are not on special, but there are books of art on special within the premises, and these catch my eye as they are the sort of art books that normally come at a premium price. But now they are on special, some reduced as much as 50 percent, and this should be good news for collectors of especially art books.
Most of the books are monographs of well known artist, prominent among them being internationally acclaimed artists Zanele Muholi, a photographer who in the past 15 years has emerged as a force to reckon with, particularly when it comes to profiling the lives of black lesbians women in South Africa.
Her body of work is in the collection of almost every important museum and art institution globally, as the body of work highlights the precarious position of lesbian women on the continent and how they continue to exist on the margin of mainly a conservative society that generally refuses to acknowledge the existence of gay people, let alone accept them. Some of them get harassed, raped and even killed for their sexual orientation.
And therefore for those interested in collecting works by Muholi, it is a good idead to pass through the Blue House in Parkwood where a monograph of Muholi is on special price. This richly illustrated paperback catalogue presents the full breadth of Muholi’s photographic and activist practice. It includes images from the key series they have produced over the past twenty years, as well as never-before-seen and recent works. The exhibition book also features six newly commissioned essays exploring their work, as well as a full glossary and chronology.
Those interest in collecting art though have a lot of artists from whom they can choose who to collect in this exhibition called Pictures Worth a Thousand Words.
Participating artists in this exhibition are Maaike, Bakker Olivia Botha, Chad Cordeiro, Heidi Fourie, Sarah Hunkin, Roxy Kaczmarek, William Kentridge, Sbongiseni Khulu, Maja Maljevic, Elizaveta Rukavishnikova, Patrick Rorke, Paul Senyol, Mthabisi Sithole, Nina Torr, Claire Zinn and Zhi Zulu.
.Pictures Worth a Thousand Words is at The Blue House, 151 Jan Smuts Avenue,, Parkwood, Johannesburg.