BRETT MURRAY

Memory

Metal with glass jar, earth and photograph

Size: 208 x 60cm

Artist's statement:

These two sculptures are part of a series of 12 works which I made in 1997 and called Own. I had wanted to address issues around notions of land and ownership for some time and had seen a series of large landscapes depicting views of the Western Cape done by Robert Jakob Gordon at the Stedelike Museum in Holland. He was an artist based at the Castle of Good Hope in the 1700's and these 1 meter by 3 meter watercolours documented Dutch expansion into the surrounding region. I thought it would be interesting to use these colonial documentations as a starting point in an attempt to define my own sense of place and investigate the contested notions land and ownership.

The full series is:

Property
Possession
Sentiment
Ownership
Territory
Inheritance
Melancholy
Heritage
Kingdom
Memory
Estate
Empire

Biography:

Born:   December 1961

Current Projects

"On Line, En Face", a collaboration between Dutch and South African artists, Textiel Museum, Tilburg, Holland; Short -listed: Convention Centre Sculpture Competition

Select Exhibitions

2002    Standard Bank Young Artist of the Year; "White Like Me' Travelling Show
2001    "Hero" Solo Exhibition, Bell-Roberts Contemporary, Cape Town; "World Wide Video Festival" Amsterdam, Holland; "Body: Rest and Motion", Oudtshoorn Festival
2000    "Cast", Group exhibition, Bronze Age Gallery, Simon's Town; "How the other half" - Animated Video Projection, Johannesburg; "I Love Africa", Solo Exhibition, Brendon-Bell Roberts Gallery, Cape Town; "I Love Africa", Solo Exhibition, Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg
1999    "Visit" - Natal Society of the Arts, Durban; "Liberated Voices - Contemporary Art from South African, Museum for African Art, New York; "New Worlds - Contemporary Art from Australia, Canada, South Africa, Canada House, London
1997    "Fin de Siecle" - Lyons, France; Cologne Art Fair - Gallery Frank Haenel; "30 Minutes" Robben Island Museum - Cape Town; "District Six Outdoor Sculpture Project", Cape Town; "Smokkel" 2nd Johannesburg Biennale - Fringe; "Own"- Haenel Gallery - Cape Town; "Own" - Goodman Gallery - Johannesburg
1996    New Sculptures - Gallerie Frank Haenel - Frankfurt, Germany; Anima-L Der Mensch Im Tier - Das tier im Mensch - Eislingen Kunstverrein, Germany; "White Boy sing the Blues" - Rembrandt van Rijn Gallery, Johannesburg; Cologne Art Fair - Gallerie Frank Haenel
1995    "The Laeger" - Johannesburg Biennale; "Scurvy" - Secret Seven - The Castle, Cape Town; Venice Biennale - Italy; Museum of Contemporary Art Santiago - "Spring Time in Chile"; Gallerie Frank Haenel: Junge Kunst Aus Zud Afrika; "Panoramas of Passage/Changing Landscapes - South Africa" Curated Clive van den Berg - Albany Museum, Grahamstown
1994    "Banquet" - Standard Bank Gallery, Johanneburg; Cuban Biennale - Wilfredo Lam Museum, Havana; Ludwig Museum of Contemporary Art, Aachen, Germany; Contemporary Art from South Africa, Deutsche Aerospace Gallery, Otobrun, Germany

Education Qualifications

1985 - 1989   MF Art (Sculpture) - University of Cape Town

Teaching Experience

1992 - 1995   Established the Sculpture department at the University of Stellenbosch

Bibliography

1999 -   "Liberated Voices Contemporary Art from South Africa, Museum for African Art, Prestel, New York
1996 -   "Art in South Africa: the Future Present" Sue Williamson and Ashraf Jamal, David Phillip Publishers, Cape Town
1995 -   "Images of Metal" Elizabeth Rankin - Witwatersrand University Press
1994 -   Revue Noire - South Africa
1992 -   "Art in Outline" An Introduction to South African Art" - Merle Huntley (Oxford University Press)
1992 -   A.D.A. Cape Town Edition
1989 -   "Resistance art in South Africa" - Sue Williamson (David Phillips Publishers)

Competitions

1992 -   Finalist - Cape Town Urban Foundation - Sculpture Competition
1992 -   Finalist - Waterfront Sculpture Competition - Cape Town
1998 -   Winner, Cape Town Urban Art Foundation - Sculpture Competition

Collections

Sandton Municipality, Johannesburg; / University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg; / University of Cape Town; / University of South Africa, Pretoria; / the Johannesburg Art Gallery; / Durban Art Museum; / Gencor Collection, Johannesburg; / The South African National Gallery, Cape Town; / Vodacom Collection, Cape Town; / Sasol Collection, Johanneburg