A Labour of Love (South African Art in the 1980s)

Description

A Labour of Love offers a new look at contemporary South African Art in the 1980s. This publication contains, alongside recently discovered works by young South African artists, new essays by international art specialists, interviews with artists, previously unpublished archival material, and more than 300 illustrations of artworks.

Published on the occasion of the exhibition at Weltkulturen Museum, Frankfurt (3rd December 2015 to 24th July 2016). The Johannesburg Art Gallery was additionally fortunate to host the A Labour of Love Exhibition, following its much vaunted run in Frankfurt, Germany.

The story of this exhibition can be traced back to 1986, when the Weltkulturen Museum in Frankfurt on Main commissioned Hans Blum to buy works of contemporary South African art on their behalf. Blum acquired 600 works by black South African artists, which today forms a key part of the contemporary art collection of Museum. Having lived in South Africa from the early 1960s until the late 1970s, Blum was the right person for the job. His involvement in the anti-apartheid movement led him to recognise the power of contemporary South African art as a means of creating awareness about the political situation in the country.

The publication not only includes new articles by Yvette Mutumba, Gabi Ngcobo, Ciraj Rassool, Same Mdluli and Neo Muyanga, but also interviews with, among others, David Koloane, Peter Clarke, Bongi Dhlomo-Mautloa, Charles Nkosi and Lionel Davis. In addition, it contains unique archival material as well as numerous images of works from the museum’s collection and new productions. Published in German and English.