THE COLOURFUL MERRY-GO-ROUND OF ARTIST DIEK GROBLER’S CREATIVE WORLD

September 30, 2023 ~ debeernecessities

Prolific artist Diek Grobler is always creating and busy with different art projects, each of which feeds the other. DIANE DE BEER popped in to his studio for a visit to see what he’s up to and what is exciting him at the moment. It is never just one thing and it changes frequently:

Self-portrait 1 and 2.

When you visit artist Diek Grobler in his studio (now at his home), he is hard at play. And his current object of desire making demands on his time is his latest most precious piece of equipment called a pinscreen.

There are only a handful of these animation machines in the world, and for the longest time, Diek has been playing with the idea of being one of those exclusive artists who could work on what he calls the slowest animation tool in the world.

The artist at play on his latest animation tool, the pinscreen.

Being one of our most avid and successful animators (amongst all his other artistic accomplishments), he has been visiting different animation festivals around the world. It was at one of these where he first saw and lost his heart to the pinscreen. And he was really at the festival to pitch his most recent animation film Laaste Woord (Last Word).

It took quite a while for him to take action, but when it means you have to sell your studio to make that final move, that’s what it takes. And even though that sounds pretty drastic, that’s what artists do when they are driven to create.

This is how he explains this latest acquisition: “It’s a screen with 100 000 pin-sized holes with very thin needles stuck into them. The screen is lit from a particular angle and the needles throw shadows. They are manipulated by the artist from the back and front of the screen to ‘paint’ a picture.”

(Here’s Wikipedia’s explanation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinscreen_animation#The_animation_technique)

Pinscreen images: Human volcano (left) and Three domesticated foxes on a field trip.

It’s painstakingly slow but quite magnificent to watch the picture emerge. And what intrigued this particular animator is that it has taught him to draw in a new and different way. You can see his eyes light up as he explains to someone with no clue how the contraption works.

But I can see the results, both in the artist and on the pinscreen. And as he is mostly teaching himself, learning by trial and error, he is going to develop new techniques and applications for years to come. I have long been a Grobler fan and can’t wait to see how it is going to influence his work.

Already with his upcoming exhibition at the Association of Arts Pretoria on October 7, he will be showing some of the stills he has made.

And while it seems to be all-consuming at the moment, don’t think this is it. Another endeavour that keeps him busy is genius because it serves many purposes. For quite some time now, Diek has found a novel yet artistic way to make money which he then uses to finance bigger ventures.

He makes an artwork every day, postcard size and quite exquisite. These he sells online to the first bidder, each one for R500. It sounds easy, I know, until you have to do it. Come up with a particular concept, execute it and have it be good enough to send into the world. This current series is titled Stories of Sunlight and Shadow. What he enjoys is the immediacy, the spontaneity and even the reimagining from other work.

Diek says he has put some out there that he personally didn’t like, yet sent them anyway and someone loved them. Even artists don’t always like what they produce, which doesn’t mean that there’s no artistic merit. I have watched longingly as these tiny nuggets appear and are snapped up before I can react. And when something hasn’t sold, he might always rework or repurpose it at another stage.

But back to the exhibition, which is titled Déjà Vu, and the name suggests everything about the intent of the artist. “It came very easily,” says Diek who buys into the thinking that there’s nothing new in the world that hasn’t been done somewhere else or even by yourself.

And yet in quite novel fashion he was inspired to paint in more colourful fashion by a particular need. “I still had paint left, but in the brightest colours I don’t often use. I decided to use these before I went out to purchase even more,” he explains.

As I looked at the work, I knew there was something different but couldn’t put my finger on it … immediately. The style was perhaps a touch busier than usual, the stories more layered and then there’s this shock of colour. Diek notes that he’s always been an admirer of the German painter Max Beckmann, described as a draughtsman, printmaker, sculptor and writer.

It is especially his compositions that intrigued him. “He positions people, for example, where they shouldn’t be,” says Diek and when you see his latest work, you will see what he means.

He is also an MA supervisor at the Open Window University in Zambia, which he enjoys and then, because of his travels to various animation festivals, he has become a popular speaker specifically on South African animation across the world. He has a particular soft spot for a festival in Zagreb (Capital of Croatia) and a Chinese visitor who attended a talk of his, has invited him to speak at a festival in China at the end of October .

Clockwise: Chorus line: Harbour guard; Flotilla.

In the meantime, he is also spending two months (November and December) at the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris where the Association of Arts, Pretoria has two apartments. His new toy will not be traveling along so Diek will be practising and working with the concept palimpsest (something reused or reworked but still bearing traces of its earlier self) for the next Venice Biennale in April 2024.

Take a breath, and let’s return to Déjà Vu which is first on the agenda. “It was all about taking stock of all the things I’ve worked on,” he says. And that’s quite something but if you know his work, you will recognise that distinctive Diek Grobler touch – yet with a new edge. And that’s exactly what artists do. They find a way of changing and developing while always holding on to their very particular style.

Diek Grobler is no different and I love it!

Diek Grobler – Déjà Vu

6 October to 28 October 2023

Association of Arts Pretoria

173 Mackie Street

Nieuw Muckleneuk

Tel: 012 346 3100 | artspta@mweb.co.za | www.artspta.co.za

Gallery Hours

Tuesday to Friday: 09:00 to 17:00

Saturday: 09:00 to 13:00

A CELEBRATORY MOMENTUM BELEGGINGS AARDKLOP RETURNS WITH A SPARKLING SMORGASBORD OF EXCELLENT THEATRE

September 24, 2023September 27, 2023 ~ debeernecessities

It’s the time of festivals with Aardklop opening with a celebration of jacaranda showers and shows from October 3 until 8. DIANE DE BEER points to a few of her favourites:

When I look at festivals, what they have to offer, I always go to theatre first. It’s my passion, people who tell stories. Fortunately, I know that stories are an integral part of the arts and are told in different ways. That’s what makes a festival such a delight.

**Die Moeder with Sandra Prinsloo and Dawid Minnaar. Picture: Emma Wiehman.**

But let’s start with theatre. If you haven’t seen Sandra Prinsloo’s Die Moeder yet or even if you have, see it again. It’s one of those once-in-a-lifetime performances even if she has had many of those. It’s a story of a woman ageing who has lost her heart and her soul as she feels discarded and left out of the dance of life.

That might sound horrific, but the text and the ensemble cast, including the magnificent Dawid Minnaar, Ludwig Binge and Ashley de Lange with exciting directing by Christiaan Olwagen, present huge rewards.

**Bettie Kemp and Dawid Minnaar in Mirakel.**

On a lighter note, Marthinus Basson, a Reza de Wet genius, presents probably her funniest play, titled Mirakel. With another fantastic cast, including Rolanda Marais, Carla Smith, Dawid Minnaar, Edwin van der Walt, Bettie Kemp and Ebin Genis, it takes us back in time when theatre was presented by traveling companies, which went from town to town, region to region.

That already puts a smile on my face, and when you get this almost ragtag band of actors together, trying to save their lives by enhancing their livelihood with all the drama of the time and the company, it’s a scream. Just seeing Minnaar, who we are used to seeing on stage in serious mode, is a delight as he lights up the room with his angst and artistic temperament.

Braam en die Engel with Joannie Combrink, de Klerk Oelofse, Rehane Abrahams and Shaun Oelf, directed by Nico Scheepers, has all the elements for something quite enchanting. Add to that Kanya Viljoen who adapted the text from a YA book with the eponymous title, Grant van Ster as choreographer, Franco Prinsloo as composer and Scheepers and Nell van der Merwe on props and puppets as well as set, costume and lighting design, it’s a no-brainer.

Described as a magic realism experience for the whole family, this sounds worth driving for and not to be missed. I don’t even know the book although the title does the trick, but the artists involved get my backing all the way.

**Geon Nel in Hoerkind. Picture: Gys Loubser.**

Also based on a book, Hoerkind, written by Herman Lategan and adapted by Francois Toerien, tells the writer’s own story about a life in tatters when as a six-year-old he is sent to an orphanage. His stepfather shoots at him, at 13 he is stalked by a paedophile, and he turns to drink and drugs to stay sane, this solo production is directed by Margit Meyer-Rödenbeck, with Geon Nel in the title role.

The young boy’s missteps are many as he tries to survive. It’s a hair-raising story of loss and triumph in a world that is feels as if it is against him as he valiantly fights to survive.

**Goed wat wag om te gebeur. Picture: Nardus Engelbrecht**

Another debut production, Goed Wat Wag Om te Gebeur, has impeccable credentials with a cast featuring Antoinette Kellerman, Gideon Lombard and Emma Kotze with Philip Rademeyer as playwright and director (reworked in Afrikaans from The Graveyard).

Hendrik returns home after 15 years but, because the house is deserted, he decides to wait in the cellar where he spent his childhood years. It is empty, but the family’s secrets and history thicken the air and form part of the foundation of the house. Three figures keep appearing – his hardened sister, his petite mother and his lively girlfriend … and secrets and lies come to the surface.

Droomwerk spotlights Jill Levenberg, Ben Albertyn, Johann Nel, Tyrish Mili and Johann Vermaak, directed by Kanya Viljoen and Lwanda Sindaphi. It unfolds as a dream as the title suggests. Petrus is the one who dreams about his family’s complex past: his ancestral mother, Diana of Madagascar, is looking for her daughter; and his grandfather, an apartheid senator, is dying.

The play deals with conflict, alienation and disillusionment. Will Petrus find the answers that bring him peace? Written by Pieter Odendaal, the text has already garnered an award for the best drama by the ATKV Woordveertjies.

Cindy Swanepoel and Zak Henrdrikz star in Henrietta Gryffenberg’s text 1 (Een) – described as a tragicomedy about love. Directed by Alby Michaels with choreography by Craig Morris and original music by Coenraad Rall (Amanda Strydom’s accompanist), it’s all about once upon a time … there were two people so fond of one another that they grew,the one into the other.

With too much togetherness, the two eventually decide it’s time to separate … but which one will survive this miraculous ordeal?

This tongue-in-cheek production looks with a slight jaundiced eye at the ancient themes of love and transience while placing it in an absurd context. Are human beings likely to find their perfect partner or are the chances just endlessly slim?

It’s a challenging piece, which should translate perfectly on stage with hopefully much laughter at the fallibility of man.

Two strong solo productions include Marion Holm, a seasoned actress who works wonderfully with words and life as she experiences it. She has her own style, a way of sharing her stories that are hysterical and sometimes quite harrowing but everything is done with such hilarity, it’s laughter from beginning to end.

On a dramatic note, Je-ani Swiegers stars in Die Vrou Op Die Dak, which tells the story of a woman who flees to the roof of her house where she hopes to find the answers to a life that has suddenly become impossible. Everything she thought she knew is disintegrating and she hopes this fresh perspective might bring fresh insights.

And don’t miss out on the latest offerings from the grand dames of cabaret, Elzabé Zietsman(with Tony Bentel in the perfectly pitched Femme is Fatale) and Amanda Strydom (Amber/Ombré). Their staying power is unique as they keep refining their artistry.

It’s a lucky packet of plays with a selection of everything one could possibly wish for when going to a festival.

And then there’s more and many different entertainment options waiting to be discovered at https://aardklop.co.za/program-2023/

Also to follow, is Nataniël’s Aardklop production as well as the rest of his surprise packages.

ARTIST LYNETTE TEN KROODEN IS INSPIRED BY THE MYSTERIES AND THE MIRACLES OF THE UNIVERSE

September 14, 2023September 20, 2023 ~ debeernecessities

The Association of Arts Pretoria is currently exhibiting works by renowned local artist Lynette ten Krooden under the collective title Mirari, which is the Latin for ‘to wonder at’; admire; miracle.Through French and later English, the word mirage also came into being. It perfectly captures the artist and her work, as she tells DIANE DE BEER:

Lynette is herself a work of art. Everything becomes her canvas.

If you spot glittering gold leaf somewhere on a table, chair or even the snacks at an arts event, it’s probably a sign that artist Lynette ten Krooden’s in the room.

“It’s her involvement with the Middle East many years ago that awakened it,” notes her close friend and fellow artist Margaret Gradwell-Truter, who divulges that the two of them are celebrating her first exhibition at the Association 40 years ago and now again. “As fellow artist, I (nervously) opened the exhibition at that time.”

It was wonderful to listen to her speech and to have her reveal so much about her friend, always with the emphasis on her art.

About Lynette’s trademark gold leaf she says that at the time it wasn’t something that was widely used in the art world. She even recalls some of the local art academics being quite scathing about the Austrian artist Gustav Klimt because of his use of gold leaf. Today his work records some of the highest prices paid for art and especially his trademark gold leaf receives high praise. In similar vein, another gold leaf practitioner, Alexis Preller, was also not rated. Today he is revered, she says, as we can all attest to.

Not that Lynette paid much attention. If you hear her speak about her work and where her inspiration lies, it’s always the landscape. “She viewed the universe from space, or flew across the desert or travelled through it with the Bedouins, or she found herself in awe of age-old mountains, rocks and fossils. But she doesn’t repeat what she has seen, she gives her audience the experience of wonderment which she experiences – she does it through a rich tapestry of forms and marks richly woven to form a whole,” explained Margaret.

“Lynette has used gold leaf as an integral part of the landscape that inspires her.” And that especially was again visible in this current exhibition.

Margaret embroiders: “She has unwaveringly used it as a medium for many years and has been able to master it, not as a decorative element but as a metaphor for the mirage, the mirari (miracle), that she has profoundly chased and captured, thereby enabling us, the spectator, to also wonder at the mirari.”

From her earliest days, she notes, Lynette was interested in the mysteries of the universe. The invisible – such as the effect of light on the earth – the glittering horizon, mist, sand, rocks and water. “This place that is a sanctuary for the wordless artist.”

And when Lynette talks unthinkingly about gold leaf, she tells how she is constantly picking up and gathering flecks of what might have fallen from something she is working on and using it again and again. And anyone who has ever picked up (or tried to handle) a sheath of gold leaf will know that it disintegrates in front of your eyes as if an invisible hand has reached out.

And still all these years later as her friend underlines, Lynette is filled with wonderment. “There’s a lifetime of art in my bones,” responds the artist. And even the fabric she wears reflects her love of what she creates.

**Reisverhale – Storm on French Linen.**

When she talks of her travels, she thinks of small children sitting on the sand and instinctively drawing, making pictures, capturing their world. That’s what she does. With her physical reality often a hindrance, she has found ways to work, to deal with what life gives her and to escape into the mysteries she is always exploring. “It never stops,” she says – and neither will she. “I lost my heart to the creative process. It’s good for my heart.”

Stand in front of one of her paintings and it immediately opens up a new world. Even if you’re just drawn by the colour, that in itself is a whole world that she embraces. For her, there’s a childlike excitement when she creates a new work. With this exhibition it was also returning to old ways and techniques that brought fresh meaning. As an artist she is intent on always moving forwards, somewhere new, challenging the world and everything around her.

And in the process, she passes on that depth of feeling to those of us looking on hoping to discover more . Her miracle becomes ours. For her it is simply a curiosity and wonder that started many years ago which has become the eternal play on her changing canvasses.

One cannot but be touched.

The exhibition runs until September 23.

http://www.artspta.co.za/

https://www.facebook.com/pretoriaartsassociation/sassociation/

Address: 173 Mackie St, Nieuw Muckleneuk, Pretoria, 0181

Hours:

Open ⋅ Closes 5 pm

Phone: 012 346 3100

Prolific artist Diek Grobler is always creating and busy with different art projects, each of which feeds the other. DIANE DE BEER popped in to his studio for a visit to see what he’s up to and what is exciting him at the moment. It is never just one thing and it changes frequently:

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It’s the time of festivals with Aardklop opening with a celebration of jacaranda showers and shows from October 3 until 8. DIANE DE BEER points to a few of her favourites:

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