The RMB Turbine Art Fair kicks off this week (12 – 14 July) at a new location – 10 Fricker Road in Illovo. Now in its 7th year, the Johannesburg-based fair continues to play an important role in opening up the visual arts to a wider audience. With artworks generally priced between R1 000 and R50 000, the RMB Turbine Art Fair caters to a wide range of new buyers and established collectors (A little tip: No matter what the price, many galleries will be open to buyers paying off a work over a number of months. Keep that in mind for when you find that one work that grabs you). With plenty to see, along with good food and good vibes, we highly recommend checking out the fair this weekend. For tickets, click here.
We’ve highlighted 5 exhibitors and exhibitions that we’d recommend keeping an eye out for.
1. A Meeting of Minds: Louis Khehla Maqhubela and Douglas Portway
Strauss & Co presents this museum-quality exhibition as the third in a series of exhibitions at the RMB Turbine Art Fair. Maqhubela and Portway met for the first time in St Ives, Cornwall, in 1967, after the former won the prestigious Artist of Fame and Promise award at Johannesburg’s Adler Fielding Gallery, which included the prize of a trip to Europe. The meeting impacted both artists’ thinking and the manner in which they painted subsequently. The aim of the exhibition is to examine the intersection of the work of these two artists, looking at their art training and early influences, and how their styles developed after they met.
2. The Graduate Exhibition
Curated by Kefiloe Siwisa in collaboration with Maja Marx, this feature returns for its 5th year at the fair. The exhibition features graduate work that has been selected from across the country, amongst which there might well be some names that you’ll see a lot more of over the coming years. Graduate exhibitions are often a good opportunity to buy a high standard of work at affordable prices.
3. 50ty/50ty
Launched by Black River Studio in 2016, 50ty/50ty is an initiative that makes work by high calibre artists more accessible. Through the close collaboration between artist and printmaker, each work is produced in an edition of 50 prints. Not only a great stand to find nice work at affordable prices, it’s a great opportunity to ask them about the fine art printmaking process (these guys are some of the best printmakers on the continent).
4. Market Photo Workshop alumni exhibition
Founded by the late David Goldblatt in 1989, the Market Photo Workshop continues to play an invaluable role in nurturing young talent in photography and visual literacy. We can’t tell you what will be on exhibition at the fair, but knowing some of the alumni that have come out of the MPW, we can only imagine that it’s worth paying a visit.
5. Guns & Rain
What we like about Guns & Rain is their mission to give greater representation to African artists both online and on the international scene. They work with emerging visual artists from the likes of South Africa, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Botswana, Mozambique and Nigeria. Their programme presents a refreshing diversity of work from beyond just South Africa.
That’s five, but there’s no doubt there will be a lot more worth seeing at this year’s RMB Turbine Art Fair.
For tickets: click here
For more info: click here
To win 1 of 10 sets of double tickets to the RMB Turbine Art Fair 2019, simply sign up to the Thursdays Projects (First Thursdays / Museum Night) mailing list by 5pm on Wednesday 9 July: click here
