Stanislaw Trzebinski – Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea

Cape Town. When entering the exhibition room I think, this is what the interior of Captain Nemo's Nautilus could look like in a remake of the Jules Verne-classic Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. Rising before a mysterious dark background are fantastically shaped sculptures and the furniture of the artist and designer Stanislaw Trzebinski, who is only 27. The sculptures look like fossilised marine animals and plants which were initially salvaged from the bottom of the sea, then cast in bronze and finally brought to life by the injection of LED lights and fibre optics. The shape of the feet of the magnificent dining table and the structure of the striking etched brass plates on the wall also appear to be organically grown objects ...

Chris Soal – Objet trouvé travels in time

Johannesburg. Never before in my life have I seen so many fences and walls, usually topped by electric fences, and so few pedestrians. Strangely enough, there are very few parked cars. Of course I had heard that Johannesburg is plagued by high crime and serious socio-political problems. But, as I shall find out today, it is something quite different meeting people who grew up here and use art to discuss life in this city.
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Conrad Hicks – In the realm of the Toolmaker

Cape Town. In Observatory, Cape Town's creative hotspot, I visit Conrad Hicks – an artist -blacksmith, or a toolmaker, as he calls himself. His studio forms a backdrop of a special kind. It is right in the middle of the previously burnt-out Art Déco cinema, which he bought and restored. Already the exterior view is quite surreal – it immediately takes me to a scene in the film Metropolis ...

Arne Quinze – Protest art exquisitely packaged

Belgium, Sint-Martens-Latem. I need to mention that I am visiting an artist today whose works I have never seen live, and which I only know as pictures via an Instagram account. A risky experiment!
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Hakan Eren – The waker-upper-stage

Walkabout in the Düsseldorfer Akademie, Class of Katharina Fritsch. Hakan Eren is on the verge of his final exam. Clearly nervous, he tinkers with the final details of his presentation. Here, the term "tinker" hits the nail on the head. The creations mounted on the walls spontaneously remind me of technoid construction models for advanced hobbyists in a toy shop of a long gone era.

Tamara K.E. – Random Data, coded in human systems

Düsseldorf. Visiting art fairs is exciting. At least in the beginning. Then, at some stage, it starts to become tiring because one can feel one's concentration going. Many a good art work is then simply missed, unless .... Stop! Put on the brakes. A work of art or an entire presentation unfold a presence from which one cannot escape. This happened in Vienna, during the presentation of works by Tamara K.E. at last year's viennacontemporary.

Wim Botha – Nothing is as it seems

Cape Town. The Heliostat exhibition at the Norval Foundation had impressed me so much that I wanted to meet the artist personally. Here, Wim Botha's work, which regularly attracts attention also at international exhibitions, was showcased in a huge solo show. I am very excited when I drive to Kommetjie to visit the artist in his studio . . .
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Claus Richter – In front of the backdrop, behind the scenes …

Cologne, September 2018. How magical was the installation of his works at Art Cologne’s this year! I was fascinated by their playfully nostalgic, seemingly light-footed aesthetics; these figures, without exception, had awakened an almost childlike spirit of discovery in me. What was it about the devilish figures of the wall-work, holding the pendulum of the grandfather’s clock, grinning at me so provocatively? The wooden silhouette figures, on closer inspection, turned out to be anything but light-footed. Not only was a hand halted, but also time. A cut made for an end or a new beginning. Such interplay, disclosing profound stories against an apparently harmless backdrop, is typical of Claus Richter's art, as I will experience on my visit to the studio today ...