PANOPLY

(Pic: “Panoply” by Walter Oltmann, 2009. Ink, bleach and crayon on paper)

Joint exhibition by Walter Oltmann and Hentie Van Der Merwe at the KZNSA.

Opening at the KZNSA Gallery on September 8 at 18h00 is a joint exhibition by Walter Oltmann and Hentie Van Der Merwe titled Panoply.

“Panoply” is defined as: “A splendid or striking array; Ceremonial attire with all accessories; Something that covers and protects; The complete arms and armour of a warrior.” In this two-person exhibition, Walter Oltmann and Hentie van der Merwe explore their interests in costume as a way of displaying the absent body. Taking as the departure point the image (or icon) of the displayed costume (for example those found in museums), the artists, in very different visual languages, unearth how we understand ourselves in relation to traces of others.

Walter Oltmann explores the idea of the empty suit as a substitute or surrogate for the body. The uninhabited suits in his sculptures and drawings were initially derived from images of early European dress. Based on such “conquistador-like” clothing, he developed a series of forms in woven aluminium wire and in related drawings. Not unlike armour in appearance, these works recall features of larvae, caterpillars and beetles. By hybridising insect features with the male body, the artist explores aspects of militarism, masculinity and colonialism, and also reflects on society’s preoccupation with defence. The hitherto implied invitation to the viewer to mentally try on the suits is realised more literally in that the wire suits on the KZNSA exhibition may be worn!

Hentie van der Merwe’s work extends his current interest in an archive of Nama (Khoi) folktales he recently discovered in Germany. These tales were recorded by the German folklorist Sigrid Schmidt in Namibia during the last 40 years of the 20th century while “working with the Nama people”. Van der Merwe explores the overlap between Nama and Afrikaans folktales: the inclusions and exclusions of details, their complex and violent nature, their grotesque humour and bold caricature that talk of violence, power and history.

The figure of the German emperor Wilhelm II – who led Germany at the time of its colonisation of Namibia (then German South-West Africa) towards the end of the 19th century – has also shaped the artist’s thinking. Wilhelm II suffered from birth complications which left his left arm withered and useless, a defect which contributed to a strongly narcissistic personality with complex psychological and sexual drives.

Van der Merwe’s ideas find form in sculpture, prints and a film made in collaboration with director Amanda Evans and composer Philip Miller that makes extensive use of high-end motion-capture technology and 3-D animation.

Walter Oltmann was born in Rustenburg, South Africa, in 1960. He has an MA in Fine Arts from the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, where he currently holds the position of Senior Lecturer in Fine Arts. Oltmann has received numerous awards, most notably as joint first prize-winner in the Standard Bank National Drawing Competition (1990), Standard Bank Young Artist Award winner (2001), and the SASOL Wax Art Award (2007). He is represented in all major national public collections, and has executed innumerable public sculpture commissions. Oltmann is represented by the Goodman Gallery.

Hentie van der Merwe was born in 1972 in Windhoek, Namibia, and currently lives and works in Johannesburg. He holds an MA in Fine Arts from the University of the Witwatersrand, and has had a number of solo exhibitions, most recently at the Goodman Gallery (2008 and 2009). He was awarded the Sasol Wax Art Award in 2008, and the Artissima /BIG Torino 2002 Prize for Best Visual Artist at the Torino Biennale. His work is represented in major national and international collections, including the Gemeentearchief Amsterdam, South African National Gallery and the Johannesburg Art Gallery.

Panoply runs until September 27 at the KZNSA Gallery, 166 Bulwer Road, Glenwood, Durban. Phone 031 277 1705, email: gallery@kznsagallery.co.za or visit www.kznsagallery.co.za