Botswana-Based Artist Thebe Phetogo Paints with Shoe Polish to Subvert the History of Blackface
Art in America,
July 2023
"In Thebe Phetogo’s paintings, acid-green backdrops offset spectral black figures that become all the more unsettling once you find out what they are made of: Phetogo renders them partially with shoe polish, the material once used by actors to put on blackface. Phetogo says it’s that shoe polish that makes his figures “come out a certain way” and guides the disarming, disquieting beauty of his work. At the heart of this is a question: what does it mean to place blackness on a figure?"
Tuli Mekondjo at House of World Cultures
tagesspiege,
June 2023
"The artist Tuli Mekondjo, who lives in Berlin and Windhoek, Namibia, is also showing a commissioned work for the reopening of the HKW. She dabbles in fertility dolls, a lost tradition in her community. Truong Cong Tung from Vietnam finds a connection to nature and spirituality in a very different way. His "Blind Map" is six meters long and one meter fifty wide, hanging from the ceiling, a termite-eaten canvas. You can't help but see the aesthetic quality in it, a mysterious writing like on old punched tape, which of course eludes any attempt at deciphering".
Tuli Mekondjo debuts ‘Ousie Martha’ in Basel
The Namibian,
May 2023
"Apartheid-era images of a smiling domestic worker and the pull of sacred Namibian fertility dolls form the basis of Tuli Mekondjo’s ‘Ousie Martha’.
Having recently debuted the performance art piece and installation at the Basler Afrika Bibilographien in Basel, Switzerland, the visual artist continues in her mining of international archives to unearth the vivid images and soundscapes that inform her practice."
Gallery of Interest: On growing, partnering and building with Julie Taylor
Art Joburg,
April 2023
"Leading up to the new space being open to the public, FNB Art Joburg sat with its founder Taylor to talk about the gallery’s place on the continent, its curatorial programming, partnering with other galleries, access to the public and building sincere long-term relationships with its artists."
Bev Butkow in Elle Magazine
ELLE,
March 2023
"The blooming of art can appear at any moment in life, and the awakening of that moment is enough for people to discover a new self. Bev Butkow, a female contemporary artist from South Africa, first came into an art class at the age of 43. Says Bev, 'I was fascinated by weaving, curious and fascinated by the simplicity of the weaving process and the complexity of its technique.'"
Phoenix TV talks to Bev Butkow about Art Central HK
Phoenix TV,
March 2023
"South African artist exhibiting in the Yi Tai section Bev Butkow talks to Phoenix TV about art fairs returning to Hong Kong post-COVID, and visitors' excitement to be out and about engaging with contemporary art from around the world"
Art(ist) Central: Bev Butkow
Lifestyle Asia,
March 2023
"Bev Butkow was 20 years into a successful professional career in finance when she and her husband decided to have their fourth child... Butkow was left to ponder her next steps forward. While fraught at the time, the decision to start afresh with her career turned out to be one of the best decisions in her life. Her turn to art happened slowly – one art lesson, a small drawing, an investment in some good paint brushes, until one day, she threw herself in by renting a studio"
The Best Art Exhibitions To See In Hong Kong This March
Vogue Hong Kong,
March 2023
Art Central will return to the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, creating a platform for hundreds of rising talents and distinguished artists alike...The Chung Dim central galleries exhibit museum-quality installations for established leading artists from around the world, while Yi Tai Sculpture & Installation Projects are for ambitious larger-than-life contemporary masterpieces scattered across the fair, such as Bev Butkow’s soft sculptures, titled reflective connections.