25 Sep 2009

YOUNGBLACKMAN presents Sue Williamson - Better Lives, Cape Town

YOUNGBLACKMAN presents Sue Williamson - Better Lives

YOUNGBLACKMAN is a new gallery opening in the East City on 69 Roeland Street. Conceived two weeks ago by artist Ed Young and writer M. Blackman, it opens its door Sept 29. The gallery is based on the business model of gross capital loss and aims to exhibit artists. As the inaugural exhibition, the gallery will showcase artist Sue Williamson’s Better Lives.

In this series of six video portraits, migrants, exiles and refugees listen to a previously recorded version of their life story for the first time. The subjects portray, in their facial expressions and poses, the seriousness and pathos of their stories.

Whether fleeing from political persecution, war or seeking better economic opportunities, people from all over Africa have come to Cape Town, seen as the city of opportunity at the foot of the continent, to make a new life.

Here, the newcomers face fresh difficulties gaining a foothold in communities already struggling to give their own families better lives.

In this series of six portraits, the subjects are listening for the first time to an edited version of their life story, recorded on a previous occasion. The seriousness of each participant in the project is reflected in the intensity of their facial expressions. The series updates the classic African photographic studio genre. The black and white backdrop used in the studio is a photo of Cape Town’s Table Mountain.

As an established artist who has had many major local and international exhibitions as well as having published notable books on South African art, Williamson will be launching her much-awaited book South African Art Now at The Book Lounge on the evening.