UJ’s art gallery will, from the 11th of September be home to the Ampersand Foundation Award 21 years celebration exhibition, showcasing a collection of works by a number of Ampersand’s most prestigious fellows such as Stephen Hobbes, Paul Emmanuel, Mbongeni Buthelezi, Penny Siopis, Senzeni Marasela, and Diane Victor.
It will be only the third time in the organisation’s history that works by various fellows will be exhibited together.
The Ampersand foundation was established in 1997 to unearth new talent and send them to New York, where they are given free accommodation and encouraged to immerse themselves in the numerous galleries and museums to further their careers. To date, the foundation has sent more than 300 artists to New York with 100 of them set to be on display at the exhibition.
Show curator Gordon Froud told Artsvark that there is no set theme for the exhibition and that the only restraint to creativity is the size of the individual exhibits.
“I wanted to put on a really powerhouse exhibition that shows the depth of the South African art scene and bring all these artists, some very well known, some not so well known, into one space together,” Froud told the site, explaining that the show features a range of works from the first fellow, Paul Emmanuel to the latest – Kate Gottgens, Wayne Matthews and Alison Shaw.
The exhibition runs from 11 September to 9 October 2019, with curator conducted gallery walkabouts on Saturdays 22 and 29 September at 11:30 and Wednesday 25 September 2019 at 13:00.
For more information, contact Mia van Schalkwyk at 011 559 3114 or miavs@uj.ac.za and Titus Rakgoathe at 011 559 2556 or titusr@uj.ac.za or follow the gallery on Facebook at @UJArtGallery.
