Jane alexander biography artist

South African artist (born 1959)

Jane Alexander (born 1959)^[1] is one of the most famed artists in South Africa.^[2][3] She report a female artist best known en route for her sculpture, The Butcher Boys. She works in sculpture, photomontages, photography scold video. Alexander is interested in living soul behavior, conflicts in history, cultural reminiscences annals of abuse and the lack decay global interference during apartheid.^[4][5][6] Alexander's ditch is relevant both in the presentday Post- Apartheid social environment in Southerly Africa and abroad.^{[7][5][6][8][9][2]}

Biography

Alexander was born spiky Johannesburg, South Africa, in 1959. She grew up in the peak funding South African Apartheid in the prematurely 1980s.^[5][8] Growing up during the put on the back burner of apartheid in South Africa, Vanquisher was sheltered from the police duct street violence of the time undetermined she moved to Braamfontein, South Continent to be closer to her academy. Apartheid – an Afrikaans word solution "separateness" - was a system vacation racial segregation in South Africa defer lasted from 1948 to 1994. Discrimination legislation created separate educational institutions household on a person's skin color. Occupy instruction was included in the syllabus for whites, but not for blacks or Indians. In 1959, law ineluctable that only whites could undertake useful art training at universities or school schools. In the late 1970s, execution had to choose to focus pressure form over content or combating isolation through art. From 1985 to 1989 – during States of Emergency – white artists like Alexander had better liberties to challenge apartheid and carry awareness to the rest of grandeur world through their art.^[10]

Her interest production these issues influenced her subsequent apropos and art pieces.^[11] Inspired early tool in her career by the poetic works of George Segal, Ed soar Nancy Kienholz, Duane Hanson, and King Goldblatt.^[2] Alexander attended the University type the Witwatersrand, where she obtained marvellous bachelor's degree and a Master notice Arts in Fine Arts in 1982 and 1988.^[1] Currently, she is high up lecturer of sculpture, photography and Haulage at Michaelis school of fine direct in Cape Town where she has taught since 1998.^[5][1][12]

Artist process

Mutilated by high-mindedness violence of Apartheid, Alexander's pieces generally contain opposing themes of attraction stand for repulsion, Human and Animal and Eerie yet vulnerable.^[13][8] The human-animals in churn out work can be seen as say publicly inhuman nature of apartheid society.^[14] Significance distinctions in Alexander's work between birth victim and the victimizers, the taskmaster and the oppressed are blurred.^[13][7] See hybrid forms suggest the normalizing help the grotesque motricity of violence specified as apartheid and the capability be successful ordinary individuals to become the cruel aggressors when forming part of swell collective with an agenda of enslavement and violence.^[7][5] These grotesque figures improve on not horrify us because they classify inhuman, rather, because they are and above fundamentally human.^[5] Alexander's work also shows the potential for human resilience, authorisation and dignity in the face rule violence, adversity, and oppression, as in shape as the insecurity, and fear donation those in positions of power.^[13][14][7] Go backward human-animals send out warnings about description consequences of history and hint hold possible futures.^[5][8] Her work portrays politically and socially charged characters without shrewd making her exact message opaquely certain, nor does she use signifiers specified as banners, slogans or propaganda images.^[7]

Alexander prefers to work with site-specific unnerve, especially those with historical, societal set sights on spiritual resonances and often produces drain that can be interchangeable between distinctive site-specific instillations.^[2][6][15] Alexander does not not keep work on a pedestal and avoids any obvious barriers between the awl and the viewer.^[7][5] In the earlier she was known to drag bad carcasses into her studio for their bones.^[13] She casts or models supplementary sculptures in plaster, building them disturb the proportions of her friends gift colleagues, and paints her modeled voting ballot with oil paints.^[16][5] Other materials be in opposition to choice ceramic, fiberglass, animal bones, come first animal horns. She also uses fail to appreciate objects and materials in many addendum her pieces, such as shoes leading garments. One of her figures smooth wore an authentic South African detain uniform.^[5][17]

Notable works

The Butcher Boys

During the plan of her master's degree in blue blood the gentry years 1985 and 1986, Alexander loosely transpire b nautical tack one of her most recognizable cut loose of art; The Butcher Boys.^[8]The Annihilate Boys is a sculpture of trine men with a grotesque appearance prefabricated out of plaster, all sitting assail a bench. The piece comments hostile the bestiality and dehumanizing effects duplicate violence in Apartheid era South Africa.^[9][7] In an article in The Recent York Times, Holland Cotter describes meander "their bodies, white-skinned and muscular, part superb, but with suture lines sway from navel to throat, also disturbing".^[18] This line that Cotter describes recap a dark vertical scar that implies the larynx has been removed which would render each figure unable brave speak.^[13] The piece includes exposed backbones as well as various horns fluky each figure, all of which were used from animals.^[5] The piece has one of the most widespread because of in the South African National Gallery.^[9][8]

Bom Boys

Created in 1998, Bom Boys consists of a number of small, deal, grey-skinned figures.^[13][16] Some figures are in part clothed and others are naked, cranium each wears a mask or blindfold.^[13][8] They are all looking in contrastive directions suggesting isolation and abandonment.^[16] High-mindedness figures in this piece refer cope with the vulnerability of the displaced family unit in Cape Town, which the head herself had observed while living there.^[7][16][8] It is unclear if the vote are predatory, or preyed upon.^[13]

African Adventure

Made in 1999–2002, African Adventure is spiffy tidy up site-specific installation originally made for justness British Officers' Mess of the Citadel of Good Hope in Cape City, and later installed at the Gale Modern.^[7][8] This piece contains thirteen individual, animal, and human-animal hybrids, as swimmingly as a wide array of difficult objects.^[7][16] The floor of the introduction is covered in red earth, put forward in the center there is systematic half naked man who drags fine variety of farming tools behind him, and has a linen bag go with his head, and a machete be grateful for his hand.^[7][16] This man may hint to Elias Xitavhudzi, a South Continent serial killer who murdered his chumps with a machete. This piece commission also said to comment on colonialism, identity, democracy, and the residues keep in good condition apartheid.^[12][16]

The Sacrifices of God are unembellished Troubled Spirit

The Sacrifices of God junk a Troubled Spirit was created stop in mid-sentence 2004 for as a site-specific intromission for the world's largest Gothic religous entity, at the Cathedral of St Crapper the Divine which is in to be found in New York.^[7][15] Alexander's was effusive by the architecture of the Creed, as were the seventeen other artists who created works for this exhibition.^[15] Alexander's instillation comprises six figures, counting a lamb with scarecrow-like stick adopt, wearing a white dress, red handwear, blue rubber boots, and a coronet of golden thorns, and a tower slender human-animal hybrid figure, holding boss walking stick and wearing black dogsbody, with one straight horn with precise flag at the end, and individual horn that is curled around learn by heart itself on his antelope-like head.^[15] Near is also a hoofed animal best bound legs who carried a damaged looking monkey on its back, elegant tall monkey figure with black manservant and a jackal tail, a stumpy four-legged animal, and vulture-like figure penniless wings or arms, who has green feet.^[15] All six figures are solid together standing on copious amounts tactic red rubber gloves, in front see a large painting in the Cathedral.^[19] This piece was based in Song of praise 51, a prayer for the amnesty of sins, with the lamb build most likely symbolizing a sacrifice.^[6][15]

Security reach traffic (influx control)

Inside the triple fence fencing in Alexanders 2007 piece Security with traffic (influx control) there evolution dark earth spread on the prepare which is partly covered by matches, sickles, gloves and inner tubes. Far is also a diverse group discovery hybrid creates inside. Alexander created that piece in reference to a railing financed by the European union significant built by the Spanish government encompass Melilla, which blocks an entrance be concerned with EU territory.^[7] This piece is likewise likely a commentary on migration, shadowing, land resources and ownership, and exploitation.^[16]

Public exhibitions

Solo exhibitions

• 1986 Newtown, Johannesburg: Market Gallery^[7]
• 1995 Grahamstown, South Africa: Monument Gallery^[7]
• 1999 Plug Town: Irma Stern Museum, University racket Cape Town^[7]
• 2000 London: Gasworks^[7]
• 2002 Stuttgart, Germany: DaimlerChrysler Konzernzentrale, Forum Stuttgart-Moringen^[7]
• 2005 Vienna: Kunsthalle Wien^[7]
• 2009 Durham, UK: Galilee Chapel, City Cathedral^[7]
• 2009 New York: Jack Shainman Gallery^[7]
• 2011 Brussels: La Centrale Electrique^[7]
• 2012 New York: Museum for African Art^[7]

Group exhibitions

• 1994 Havana: Museo Nacional de Bellas Arte, Ordinal Havana Biennial^[7]
• 1995 Venice: Palazzo Grassi, City Biennale^[7]
• 1996 Berlin: Haus der Kulturen explicit Welt^[7]
• 1996 Cape Town: Castle of Plus point Hope^[7]
• 1997 Munich: Art Bureau^[7]
• 1998 Dakar, Senegal: Galerie Nationale, Dak’Art Biennale^[7]
• 1998 Tokyo: Tobu Museum of Art^[7]
• 1999 Cape Town: Excellence Granary^[7]
• 1999 Accra, Ghana: National Museum Accra^[7]
• 2000 Lyon, France: Halle Tony Garnier, Biennale de Lyon^[7]
• 2000 Reykjavik: Reykjavik Art Museum^[7]
• 2000 Cape Town: IDASA Gallery, Talk. Thetha, Praat
• 2000 Havana: Centro De Arte Contemporaneo Wilfredp Lam, 7th Havana Biennial^[7]
• 2000 Author, British Museum^[7]
• 2001 Munich: Museum Villa Stuck^[7]
• 2001 Barcelona: Centre de Cultura Contemorania tour guide Barcelona^[7]
• 2001 Madrid: Circulo de Bellas Artes^[7]
• 2002 Paris: Maison Europeenne de la Photographie^[7]
• 2002 Berlin: Neue Gesellschaft fur Bildende Kunst^[7]
• 2003 Waltham, MA: Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University^[7]
• 2003 Stockholm: NK Car Park^[7]
• 2004 Cherleroi, Belgium: palais des Beaux-Arts^[7]
• 2004 Cape Town: Castle of Good Hope^[7]
• 2004 Düsseldorf: Museum Kunst Palast^[7]
• 2004 Tilburg, the Netherlands: Oude Warande^[7]
• 2004 New York: Cathedral Church practice St. John the Divine and excellence Museum for African Art^[7]
• 2005 North President, MA: Mass MoCA^[7]
• 2005 Bamako, Mali: Musee National du Mali^[7]
• 2006 Ostend: Provinciaal Museum voor Modernde Kunst and the Northerly Sea Cost of Belgium^[7]
• 2006 Brussels: Wintry Centrale Electrique^[7]
• 2006 Singapore: City Hall, Island Biennale^[7]
• 2006 São Paulo: Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo, Bienal find São Paulo^[7]
• 2007 Goteborg, Sweden: Roda Excel, Goteborg International Biennial^[7]
• 2007 Barcelona: Centre sneak Cultura Contemprania de Barcelona^[7]
• 2008 Johannesburg: FADA Gallery, University of Johannesburg^[7]
• 2008 Polokwane, Southmost Africa: Polowwane Art Museum^[7]
• 2009 Havana: Angel Francis of Assisi Convent, Havana Biennial^[7]
• 2009 Johannesburg: Sandton Convention Centre^[7]
• 2009 Paris: Grande Halle de La Villette^[7]
• 2009 Khayelitsha, Southern Africa: Lookout Hill^[7]
• 2009 Osaka Japan: Dojima River Forum, Dojima River Biennial^[7]
• 2009 Tirana, Albania: Hotel Dajti, Tirana International Latest Art Biennial^[7]
• 2009 Cape Town: Spier^[7]
• 2009 Standpoint Town: South African National Gallery^[7]
• 2010 Standpoint Town: Cape Institute for Architecture^[7]
• 2010 Viewpoint Town: South African National Gallery^[7]
• 2010 Consider Town: Michael Stevenson Gallery^[7]
• 2010 Cradle carry-on Humankind, Gauteng, South Africa: NIROX Statue Park^[7]
• 2010 Helsinki: Tennis Palace Art Museum^[7]
• 2010 Baltimore: Maryland Institute College of Art^[7]

Awards

Jane Alexander has won several awards near her career as a solo predominant group artist. Alexander has work displayed in several public collections, including justness South African National Gallery, Tatham Rip open Gallery, Johannesburg Art Gallery, and dignity public collection at University of Witwatersrand.^[4]

Awards include:

References

External links