27th Mar, 2017 15:00
Historic, Modern & Contemporary Art
162
Michael MacGarry (South Africa 1978-)
The Organ (2+2=5)
bronze with a black patina inlay on Dragunov SVD 7.62mm semi-automatic rifle with x4 PSO-1 telescopic sight Artist’s Proof, from an edition of 5 rifle: 130 x 33 x 14 cm; base: 93 x 126 x 16 cm Accompanied by a steel base.
Artwork date: 2011
bronze with a black patina inlay on Dragunov SVD 7.62mm semi-automatic rifle with x4 PSO-1 telescopic sight Artist’s Proof, from an edition of 5 rifle: 130 x 33 x 14 cm; base: 93 x 126 x 16 cm Accompanied by a steel base.
Artwork date: 2011
(1)
rifle: 130 x 33 x 14 cm; base: 93 x 126 x 16 cm
Notes:
One of Michael MacGarry’s original forays into the art world was his (still existing) website alltheorynopractice. This MacGuffin of an online artwork brought together designs, ideas, suggestions, hints, even scripts, many involving art objects that never were or never came to be.A past Standard Bank Young Artist winner, MacGarry’s migration into making sculptural work and films, which now dominates his practice, was marked by the artist’s key thematic – the impact of economic neo-imperialism on the African continent. Less densely theoretical than the earlier conceptual work, it is nonetheless deeply considered and informed.This single sculptural piece, The Organ (2011), harks back to earlier work from 2008’s show, When enough people start saying the same thing, in particular the work Fetish, which also comprised a strikingly repurposed automatic weapon. The Organ recalls David Cronenberg’s organic flesh/pistol hybrid in the film ‘Existenz’. MacGarry gives the weapon, a Russian-made Dragunov semi-automatic rifle, a patina of organic bronze resembling flesh or roiling internal organs, and transmogrifies its butt and handle into knobs of animal-like bone. These mutations make the point about the ubiquitous presence of such illegal weapons in African war-zones, all too apparent. The earlier work Fetish of course marks the human investment in war and killing through its title, and a similar hybridisation is going on in this striking and disturbing work.While MacGarry’s work is often rooted in film and video, or takes larger-scale sculptural forms, this work, though eerie, offers the chance of useful investment in the oeuvre of this feted contemporary artist.
James Sey
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Auction: Historic, Modern & Contemporary Art, 27th Mar, 2017
The Inaugural Cape Auction offed a diverse range of top-quality historic, modern and contemporary works. With a focus on critically engaged art and a curated approach, seasoned and new collectors competed to acquire significant works.
Aspire’s commitment to the growth of the art market saw international records broken in recognition of exiled South African artists. Louis Maqhubela’s Exiled King, a definitive, politically motivated work, sold for R341,040 - three times his previous record, and Albert Adams’ Untitled (Four Figures with Pitchforks), his first appearance at auction, sold for R136,416. Top prices were also achieved for established artists including J.H Pierneef, William Kentridge, and Edoardo Villa, and contemporary artwork fared exceptionally with record prices for David Brown, Steven Cohen, Mohau Modisakeng, Moshekwa Langa, and Mikhael Subotzky.
Viewing
Friday 24 March 2017 | 10 am – 7 pm
Saturday 25 March 2017 | 10 am – 5 pm
Sunday 26 March 2017 | 10 am – 4 pm
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