William Kentridge – An Art Fair of Sorts

As William Kentridge’s exhibition at New York’s Marian Goodman Gallery draws to a close, three exhibitions of the South African artist’s work are about to open in his home town of Johannesburg. The Marian Goodman exhibition coincided with the US premiere of Paper Music: A Cine Concert by Kentridge and long time musical collaborator Philip Miller at Carnegie Hall as part of UBUNTU: Music and Arts of South Africa festival.

The star attraction in Johannesburg will be his collaborative multimedia collage installation that combines video, sculpture, graphic art, music, sound and visual design, silent film, animation, dance and performance, The refusal of time. Commissioned by the Germany city of Kassel’s Documenta 13 the work has subsequently traveled to Boston, New York, The Festival of Perth and New Zealand’s capital city, Wellington. Addressing different ways of understanding and measuring time (from Newton to String Theory), The Refusal of Time will be on view at the Johannesburg Art Gallery for the next four months.

During this time the two satellite exhibitions on show will be the Wits Arts Museum’s “William Kentridge: Tapestries – A Callaboration with Stephens Tapestry Studio” and “Drawings: East Rand Proprietary Mines Cash Book” at the Goodman Gallery.

Not that dissimilar to the art fair model of a main attraction and its attendant satellite fairs. Although with just one voice vying for your attention than a multitude it should be a more leisurely stroll. Indeed, for Kentridge fans it may well become; Johannesburg, 2nd Greatest City After Paris.