Art Patron Sponsors Two Local Artists at THAT ART FAIR!
Art patron and sculptor Anton Smit has generously sponsored booth space at
THAT ART FAIR 2016 – FRESH ART FROM AFRICA for two local artists, Johann
Nortje and Leanne Olivier. Smit’s generosity stems from his interest in nurturing
younger artists and putting them on the path to success.
THAT ART FAIR is an initiative of ART AFRICA magazine. Founded in reaction to
the fact that many countries in Africa lack the formal structures of commercial
art galleries where artists can exhibit their work; THAT ART FAIR offers them
such a platform. Emerging and established artists can showcase their work in a
professional environment, where they can meet directly with collectors, galleries
and new audiences alike! The burgeoning contemporary African market is ripe
for the picking and growing a young and invested collector base is our aim.
Johann Nortje is a South African sculptor based in Pretoria. Having studied at
Tshwane University of Technology, Nortje went on to work at a small family-run
foundry producing work for Goodman Gallery artists such as William Kentridge
and Gerhard Marx. He has also worked at Dionysus Sculpture Works (DSW),
founded by sculptor Angus Taylor. Currently working as a self-employed artist,
Nortje says that he is bent on changing the world, but will settle for at least
changing his own. The rest lies in the work he produces – made from line
because as he says, he “likes to boil things down to their core.”
On the other end of the spectrum, Leanne Olivier, is a fine and applied artist.
About her work, she says: “I aim to destabilise and deconstruct fixed ideas and
dogma within society. I try to do this in a very subtle and almost romantic way,
where things may appear innocent or trivial on the surface, but there is a sense
of displacement and unsettledness.” A selection of her thought-provoking
paintings will be exhibited at THAT ART FAIR .
Anton Smit is a well-established and well-loved sculptor hailing from Gauteng.
Career highlights include being a part of the ‘Strengthening the Link’ initiative
when he exhibited 35 of his works in Grand Central Station in New York City in
1994 (celebrated with a cover image on the New York Times), as well as having
his work shown at the Union Buildings in Pretoria during Nelson Mandela’s
presidential inauguration in the same year. His work has been widely exhibited
locally and abroad, and part of his collection can be viewed in its permanent
home at the Anton Smit Sculpture Park, on the banks of the Bronkhorstspruit
Dam.
THAT ART FAIR 2016 – FRESH ART FROM AFRICA will run from the 18th of
February to the 6th of March 2016 at The Palms in Woodstock, Cape Town, with a
full exhibition programme including a VIP event, talks programme, film
programme and the opening extravaganza, THAT ART PARTY on Friday the 19th
of February 2016.
Press Releases covering the latest developments in the THAT ART FAIR
2016 programme will be available in the Media Centre on our website.
Should you wish to apply for Media Accreditation, click here.
For further information and to get up-to-the-minute news about our everexpanding list of participants for THAT ART FAIR 2016, please follow us on
Facebook, Twitter and Instagram (@thatartfair).
Alternatively, contact us directly:
For high res images, please contact Leigh:
thatartfair@artafricamagazine.org or +27(0)21 465 9108.
To arrange an interview with the founders and directors of THAT ART FAIR, the
curators of the programmed events or the participating artists and galleries,
please contact Leigh:
thatartfair@artafricamagazine.org or +27(0)21 465 9108.
NOTES FOR EDITORS
ABOUT The Founders and Directors of THAT ART FAIR:
THAT ART FAIR is an initiative of ART AFRICA magazine, the leading and only African
contemporary arts magazine to be founded and published from Africa, for Africa, by Africans.
Based in Cape Town, South Africa ART AFRICA was founded in 2002 by Brendon and Suzette BellRoberts under the title ARTsouthAFRICA magazine. Now in its 14th year, the publication is
dedicated to promoting and stimulating a vibrant African creative arts industry. We are
committed to actively promoting transformation and cultural understanding; growing art
networks and creating opportunities for young artistic talent from the African continent.
Brendon Bell-Roberts: For the past twenty years Brendon has been designing, curating and
publishing. With more than 100 major publications and exhibitions under his belt, he has helped
launch the careers of many of South Africa’s top artists and creatives. Together with his wife
Suzette he is the founder and publisher of ARTsouthAFRICA magazine, which has evolved into a
digital platform in keeping with his focus on the role of creativity, sustainability and positive
change in the African digital revolution. Brendon is also co-founder of the Sustain our Africa
summit, expo and festival and the Change Agent Communications Consultancy. His projects
combine creativity, sustainability and positive change, helping to define the future Africa.
Suzette Bell-Roberts: After completing a BA LLB at the University of Stellenbosch, Suzette
practiced law for a number of years. Together with husband Brendon, they co-founded the
cutting edge Bell-Roberts Gallery in 1999 and launched ARTsouthAFRICA magazine 3 years later.
A passion for work produced by emerging artists committed to exploration and who push the
boundaries of their work; an unfaltering commitment to the promotion of the contemporary arts
and contemporary culture from Africa and the diaspora now culminates in the launch of THAT
ART FAIR. Suzette is currently working towards a Master’s degree in Intellectual Property Law,
with a focus on the visual arts.
All media queries:
Leigh Bassingthwaighte
thatartfair@artafricamagazine.org
+27 (21) 465 9108
Urgent Queries: +27(0)84 423 6017
All sponsorship and partnership queries:
Suzette Bell-Roberts
suzette@artafricamagazine.org
+27 (21) 465 9108
Urgent queries: +27 (83) 261 3147
For proposals and submission queries:
thatartfair@artafricamagazine.org
+27 (21) 465 9108