This winter Spier is pleased to present a series of three art exhibitions, curated on the occasion of The International Poetry Festival, ‘Dancing In Other Words’.
More than Words
Group exhibition | Spier Manor House
10 May – 31 July 2013
 ‘Vocabulary’ or ‘visual language’ are terms often used to describe the characteristics of an artist’s practice. Analogies with words are apt within the context of art, since the use of text has been a feature of artists’ practices since the early twentieth century.
In ‘More than Words’ Spier presents a selection of artworks that explore this cross-pollination between the disciplines within a uniquely South African Context. The following artists use text as statement, as narrative, as instruction, in poetic and literary forms, or as the object of the artwork itself:
Arlene Amaler-Raviv | Olaf Bishoff | Willem Boshoff | Tom Cullberg | William Kentridge | Colin Richards
Image details: William Kentridge | Universal Archive: Ref 54 (2012)
Linocut printed on non-archival pages from Shorter Oxford English Dictionary
Edition of 20 | Size: 27 x 35 cm
Image courtesy of David Krut Projects
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Maanfabet: The First Letters Of Stonetalk
An exhibition by Breyten Breytenbach | Spier Manor House
10 May – 31 July 2013
 “An ancient Swahili saying warns that he who sings bareheaded under the moon will be mad forever. And another says: Speak, or be stone forever. The works shown here, although not representative of any period, came about over many years and moons in different settings, and for a variety of purposes. I hope they also trace my ongoing efforts to learn to decipher the signs of communicating with images.” - Breytenbach
Breyten Breytenbach (b.1939) began publishing his poetry and prose in 1964. He exhibited his art in various European galleries from the early 1960’s before returning clandestinely to South Africa in 1975 to then spend seven and a half years of a nine-year conviction for Terrorism in South African prisons. He taught at various universities both in South Africa and the United States, helped bring about the Centre for Creative Arts at the Kwazulu Natal University in Durban and was a co-founder of the Gorée Institute in Dakar, Senegal (1992). He works from Catalonia, Paris and Gorée.
Image details: Breyten Breytenbach
Entre los Labios (2009)
Watercolour on paper | 55 x 38 cm
Image courtesy of Marjory van der Merwe
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Interrupted Daydreams
An exhibition by Liza Grobler | Spier Wine Tasting Centre
10 May – 26 July 2013
 This exhibition presents a selection of mixed media drawings and beadworks, created in association with the Qubeka Bead Studio, “…that dart between our tangible reality, the fantastical spaces we fabricate and the borrowed words that swim through our minds.” - Grobler
Since receiving her Masters Degree in Fine Art with distinction from Stellenbosch University, Liza Grobler (b. 1974) has dabbled in a diverse range of media, embracing bright colour and often incorporating traditional craft techniques to create site-specific work. Her art is a conversation between image, language and daily life. Having completed numerous works in collaboration, the Qubeka Bead Studio and Grobler have established a rare working relationship.
Qubeka was founded, in association with the Jeanetta Blignaut Art Consultancy, in 2007 by the pioneering members of the original Qalo Bead Studio. Today, its principle artists, Neliswa Skiti, Nolubabalu Kanku and Mandisa Masina are training and employing other beaders in order to keep up with the demand for their highly unique works created from glass seed beads.
Image details: Liza Grobler in association Qubeka bead studio
Misverstand (detail) (2012)
Glass beads on board
1500 X 3050 cm
For further information or to purchase available artworks please contact:
Jeanetta Blignaut Art Consultancy
Lucy MacGarry
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