Perspectives on Africa
Live Virtual Auction, 17 February 2025
Perspectives on Africa
About the SessionStrauss & Co is pleased to present Perspectives on Africa, a sale that explores the complexity, beauty, and fluidity of perspectives through African art and works by artists with strong ties to the continent. The sale coalesces the rich and varied connections between Africa and its artistic expressions, presenting works that span figuration, landscape, and abstraction, inviting collectors to engage with powerful narratives emerging from Africa's evolving perspectives. The works reflect layered meanings, both as a method of representing depth and dimension as a way of framing our understanding of the world. Work by Contemporary artists reflects on the historical foundations of Modernist artists, exploring themes such as identity, belonging, urbanisation, and re-encounters with tradition, while the sale transitions to Modernist interpretations of Africa, exploring the complexity of colonial encounters, post-independence aspirations, and indigenous practices. Building on Strauss & Co’s commitment to developing a strong local photography market, the sale includes an artist focus on the work of social documentarian Paul Alberts, whose images captured poignant narratives of everyday life, particularly in Cape Town. These works sit alongside David Goldblatt and Zanele Muholi, whose visceral images explore themes of identity, social justice and the multifaceted realities of African life.
About this Item
signed, dated 2021 and inscribed with the title on the stretcher
Provenance
Everard Read, Cape Town.
Private Collection.
Exhibited
Everard Read, Cape Town, Timber, 24 February to 20 March 2021.
Notes
"‘Timber!’ is the call that echoes through the forest when a tree is going to fall after being cut. It is also the wood used to build houses."1
The present lot, which lent its title to Brett Seiler's 2021 solo exhibition at Everard Read, explores the term 'timber,' which the artist uses to examine masculinity, home, and loss. Since 2019, his paintings have often featured groups of men in minimally detailed interiors, engaged in personal moments. This lot exemplifies his ability to transform memories into poignant visual diaries of queer existence.
The works within the exhibition are autobiographical, depicting intimate moments and memories, created using materials like roof paint, wood scraps, and bitumen. These materials not only shape the forms in his works but also construct a 'home' for the subject matter, blending personal narrative with a politically defiant edge.
1Everard Read (n. d.) Brett Charles Seiler: Timber, online, https://www.everard-read-capetown.co.za/exhibition/234/press_release/, accessed 26 January 2025.