ART OF THE BALL

(Pic: “The Monument” by Isolde Krams, 1985 - cement fondue, resin & oil)

Portrait installation from the DAG collection curated by Jenny Stretton.

The Durban Art Gallery is entering into the 2010 fever with an exhibition curated from the permanent collection and other collections. It is being held in the rectangular gallery which has been transformed into an installation resembling a football pitch.

“Stern colonial figures peer down from the walls,” explains curator Jenny Stretton about these portraits that have been drawn from the Durban Art Gallery’s permanent collection. “The space is almost a perfectly-proportioned football pitch, but the chalk markings are not regulation: they reflect another set of rules we are going to have to learn. Football-type figures rub shoulders with Mr Wobblyman; scale is distorted, and order is absent in some spaces and militarised in other areas - reminiscent of an army command operation’s room layout with tiny icons being pushed about to represent a battlefield. The action draws different players in - only to discard them and move on.”

Art of the Ball 2010 runs until August 1 at the Durban Art Gallery which is situated on the second floor of the Durban City Hall, entrance in Smith Street opposite the Playhouse.