("The Devils", oil on canvas by Andreas
Chasomeris)
artSPACE Durban is
currently closed for the month of April. The next exhibition will open on May 4.
This will be Pre-code Forecast 1931, an engaging new
exhibition of paintings, photography and film by Durban queer artist Andreas
Chasomeris. The title encapsulates the major themes that Chasomeris has been
exploring in relation to History, Censorship and Cinema.
The date of 1931 is
significant because this period of time was fascinating as the Great Depression
(1929-1935) was being felt around the world, Cinema in both Europe and
specifically Hollywood was embracing the progressive nature of society, however
the stark realities of the era gave rise to what is now considered Pre-code
Hollywood (1930-1934), technological innovation of sound (1927) heralded a new
dawn of talking pictures and films like Josef
von Sternberg The Blue Angel (1929) and Shanghai
Express (1931); Reinhold Schünzel’s Viktor
und Viktoria (1933). These films are but a few of the examples that became
evidence later by the Production code of the fear of the screen in corrupting
and destroying the public, these films were labelled as Vice pictures and by
1934 with the Catholic League of Decency promised to eradicate any disgusting,
immoral and vice ridden representations off the screens.
This is Chasomeris’
personal response from a critical evaluation based on the past documented
histories and the present lived experience of being a queer artist in
post-Apartheid South African context.
As an educator with
a passion for film, art and history, he firmly believes in order to understand
the possibility that our potential future holds is deeply entrenched in the
narratives of the past.
The exhibition
includes influences of Art Deco, Marlene Dietrich, Weimar Republic, Jean
Harlow, Busby Berkeley musical numbers, Cole Porter and a touch of Agatha
Christie.
Pre-code Forecast 1931 runs from May 4 to 23 at artSPACE Durban. For more information, contact 031 312 0793 or Andreas Chasomeris on 082 644 5769 or
email: amigoandy@gmail.com
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