ARTinvestment.RU tells about one of the most outstanding artists of Africa

from September 25 to October 25, 2009 in Moscow will host The Third International Biennale of Contemporary Art. Among its members - a South African artist William Kentridzh (William Kentridge), famous for its unusual animated films.

Creativity Kentridzha, which he calls "the animation of the Stone Age", is an alternative to the traditional celluloid animation . First, the artist makes a charcoal drawing and takes it to the camera. As it happens the first frame. Then he changes the image, erasing some parts and fill the vacuum with new images - that's the next frame is ready. And so on. In most cases, traces of the erased elements clearly visible on paper - Kentridzh makes the process of creating his films visible to the viewer. Frame he usually takes between a quarter and a second to two seconds. Each scene consists of personnel, created on a single sheet of paper. After completion of the work the artist does not throw his drawings - on the contrary, they almost always on display along with movies. Graphic artist recalls the work of German Expressionists, as well as paintings by Alberto Giacometti (Alberto Giacometti).

The first animated film Kentridzha, entitled "Johannesburg, the greatest city after Paris," was released 1989. The main theme of this work is brutal regime of apartheid. Kentridzh, born in Johannesburg in 1955, grew up in a wealthy white family, but as a child knew that the power in his country is criminal and unjust. The artist's father, Sidney Kentridzh (Sydney Kentridge), was one of the major legal anti-apartheid movement. In the late 1950's he defended Nelson Mandela (Nelson Mandela), accused of treason. In 1977, represented the family of slain police black activist Steve Biko (Stephen Biko). In 1999, Queen Elizabeth II awarded Sydney Kentridzha Order of the British Empire. The mother of the artist, Felix (Felicia Kentridge), was also well-known lawyer. She founded the first in South Africa, a non-profit legal organization, is responsible for protecting the rights of the most vulnerable. Felix very well knew that such oppression: her father, a Lithuanian Jew, emigrated to Africa, fleeing the pogroms.

his creative career, William Kentridzh began work in the theater. In 1975 he founded the troupe Junction Avenue, in which all can participate, regardless of race. The artist created a theatrical scenery, but also played in various productions. In particular, he acted as leader of the Dadaist Tristan Tzara (Tristan Tzara) in a comedy by Tom Stoppard (Tom Stoppard) «Travesty. But acting break Kentridzh not succeeded: by his own admission, all the roles he played the same way. This remark should be borne in mind when analyzing the artist's works: all the characters from my dad Ubyu Gogol's Nose to have between them something in common, or rather have something in common with himself Kentridzhem. Creativity humanistic artist: his work tell us that no one has the right to put themselves above others. By making relentless and stupid daddy Ubyu own features, Kentridzh thus stated that no one is without sin, evil is present in every soul. The theme of many of his works is the fault of white South Africans to the indigenous population: even those who are not directly oppressed black bear responsibility for not having helped break the racist regime and its benefits. As the artist said in an interview: "Any white, recalling the era of apartheid, I must admit that I could have done more».

man named Felix Teitelbaum experiencing due to the inability to change cruel world, is one of the two main characters in the film "Johannesburg, is the greatest city after Paris." He has an alter ego - a calculating, heartless industrialist Soho Eckstein, who "bought a half-Johannesburg. The latter distinguishes hatred of life and contempt for all others, particularly the black workers, whom he oppressed in every way. Because of the ugliness of the image Eckstein many people mistakenly thought that the film is anti-Semitic comments, although it is certainly not the case. The hero is very similar to one of the most ardent defenders of apartheid, the insurance magnate Shlomo Peer (Shlomo Peer), which in 1989 threatened a court painter to his father, Sidney Kentridzhu, for what he called "a disgrace of the Jewish community." William Kentridzh, himself a Jew, in an interview with Los Angeles Times notes that, despite the presence here of such figures, the community had a lot of heroes - the Jews were the most active opponents of apartheid.

Total pro Teitelbaum and Eckstein came nine films: «Johannesburg , the greatest city after Paris "(1989) , «Monument" (1990) , «My" (1991) , « Sobriety, obesity and aging "(1991) , « Felix in Exile "(1994) , « History of the main complaint "(1996) , « Weighing ... and wishing "(1997) , «Stereo" (1999) , «Schedule of tides and tides "(2003). Now Kentridzh working on the tenth series.

special place in the work Kentridzha occupy theatrical projects. In 1992, the artist began working with the Johannesburg puppet Handspring. Their first work was a joint production of "Woyzeck on the Highveld plateau, which became the basis for the play" Woyzeck Georg Buchner (Georg Büchner). The play moved to South Africa 1950, and the main character did migrant workers. For "Woyzeck" followed by "Faustus in Africa" (1995), and three years later Kentridzh and theater Handspring presented his most notorious creation - performance "Ubyu and the Commission of Truth". The South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission began its activities in 1995, a year after the fall of apartheid. At its meetings, the victim told about the horrors of the regime, which had to cope with them and their families, and those who have committed crimes in the name of apartheid, could repent. Some repentance received amnesty. In the formulation of theater Handspring dad Ubyu - is a sadist and torturer, who at the time of racial segregation created different crimes with impunity. His mother and Ubyu play actors, and the role of victims of apartheid, telling about the terrible crimes, "execute" surreal puppets. During the performance shown documentary footage and animation Kentridzha.

In 2005 Kentridzh staged "The Magic Flute". While working on this project, he thought of his philosophy - as is known, works by Mozart celebrates the ideals of the Enlightenment. In contrast to the Magic Flute, he created the installation "Black Room", which drew attention to the fact that the Enlightenment was a dark side - it is in some measure justified German imperialism. Job Kentridzha tells about the mass extermination of African people garari perpetrated by the Germans in 1904 and is considered the first genocide of the twentieth century. In addition to animation, Kentridzh submitted drawings, objects, and even a miniature puppet theater, managed with some simple mechanical devices, without human intervention.

next year in New York will premiere another show, directed by Kentridzh. This opera "The Nose", written in 1930 by Dmitri Shostakovich. Video, which will be shown in the theater, part of the installation "I am not I, and the horse is not mine," which has already seen many visitors to museums in the world. As is the case with The Ubyu and the Commission of Truth ", Kentridzh chose the famous source is absurd to criticize the brutal regime. The theme of the installation "I am not I, and the horse is not mine" are crimes of Stalinism - in particular, the merciless destruction of Russian avant-garde.

at a public auction in the main there are prints and drawings Kentridzha. Prints are not very expensive - an average of 1-2 thousand euros. Auction records belong to two drawings of the artist - "A man in sandals. Sketch "(1998) and" Shadow Procession "(1999). Both brought to 105 thousand dollars on New York's Sotheby's auction November 12, 2008. Estimate the first figure was 40-60 thousand dollars, the second - 150-250 thousand. Work Kentridzha frequently appear at major auctions of contemporary art, and it is expected that their prices will rise: in recent years, the artist's popularity has increased, which contributed greatly to the staging of "The Nose" and "The Magic Flute, as well as major exhibitions. In particular, this spring at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Francisco passed its retrospective.

Material prepared Yulia Maximova, AI

Source: nytimes.com , latimes.com , villagevoice.com , youtube.com/user/ead1529 , youtube.com /user /marwhat , handspringpuppet.co.za , artprice.com , artinvestment.ru

PS On the participants in the third Moscow Biennale of contemporary art can be read:

The third Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art. AES + F
third Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art. Christian Markle
third Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art. Yuri Albert
third Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art. El Anatsui
third Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art. Mikhail Grobman
third Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art. Tony Cragg
third Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art. Paul Pepperstein
third Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art. Workshop Wang Lishaut
third Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art. Vladimir Sychev
third Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art. Luc Tyuymans
third Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art. Chiharu Shiota
third Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art. Valery Koshlyakov