Is Johannesburg angling to be the next gritty city turned vibrant arts mecca? Organizers of the sixth edition of the Joburg Art Fair at the Sandton Convention Centre, September 27–29, certainly hope to capitalize on burgeoning interest in contemporary art from the African continent. This year 33 galleries have confirmed, with a dozen new participants, up from 22 total in the inaugural outing in 2008.
Ross Douglas, director of the fair’s owner, Artlogic, says, “The first one drew a local audience, but we’ve since developed an international clientele for African contemporary art.” Among the 10,000 attendees last year, Douglas also noted “an increase in serious buyers from South Africa eager to build museum-quality collections, which is new for us.”
In line with the success of Edson Chagas—whose award-winning “Found Not Taken” shots in the Angolan pavilion at the Venice Biennale were snapped up by former Puma CEO Jochen Zeitz—photography is the fair’s focus this year. Locals Goodman Gallery and CIRCA have solo presentations of David Goldblatt and Roger Ballen, respectively. Comers from Cape Town include Brundyn + Gonsalves, with striking black-and-white prints by Mohau Modisakeng (starting at around $4,600), and Commune.1, bringing mixed-media works on paper by self-taught South African artist Ayanda Mabulu that incorporate tribal colors with contemporary—often political—imagery ($3,000–4,000)
This article is published in the September 2013 issue of Art+Auction.
