Art in August: 10 must-see exhibitions across the country

Where do I begin | STEVENSON Cape Town

20 August  -  23 September  

Where Do I Begin is a group exhibition and education experiment that plays with links of curation, perception and within the artworks themselves. The exhibition follows a game-like design, allowing the audience to explore, traverse and make connections between artworks, giving an individual an interactive experience for all ages and knowledge levels.

Exhibiting artists: Moshekwa Langa, Igshaan Adams, Zander Blom, Ian Grose, Bonolo Kavula, Dada Khanyisa, Lebogang Mabusela, Gerhard Marx, Neo Matloga, Unathi Mkonto, Nabeeha Mohamed, Sam Nhlengethwa, Simphiwe Ndzube, Thenjiwe Niki Nkosi, Thania Petersen, Jo Ractliffe, Robin Rhode, Gerda Scheepers, Viviane Sassen, Penny Siopis, Sitaara Stodel, Mikhael Subotzky, Thato Toeba and others.

Mon-Fri: 9am-5pm

Saturday: 10am-1pm

Buchanan Building, 160 Sir Lowry Road, Woodstock,  7925.

Unseen Dimensions of the Known by Patrick Bongoy | Southern Guild

4 August -  30 September 

Unseen Dimensions of the Known is Bongoy’s first solo exhibition with the gallery. The Cape Town-based artist reinterprets forced migration, extraction, and exploitation in his native DRC.

This exhibition explores broader themes of the human condition, provoking a questioning of purpose beyond the physical aspects of our identities. Sculpture, painting, site-specific installations and woven tapestries use natural materials to pursue an innovative visual language and exploration of the human condition. Bongoy continues his collaboration with the local poet, Malika Ndlovu.

Mon-Fri: 9am-5.30pm

Saturday: 10am-2pm

Silo 5, V&A Waterfront, Cape Town.

75 Years Celebration kickoff | The Association of Arts Pretoria

30 July - 20 August 

The Association of Arts Pretoria celebrates its 75th anniversary in September, and this group exhibition of artists between the ages of 20 and 40 kick-starts the diamond jubilee.

Tues-Fri: 9am-6pm

Saturday: 9am-1pm

173 Mackie Street, Nieuw Muckleneuk, Pretoria.

Genre Pictures by Michael MacGarry | Everard Read Cape Town

3 August - 24 August 

Michael MacGarry’s 15th solo exhibition features a body of new work reflecting on sociopolitical and economic narratives from a post-humanist autobiographical mode. His ongoing Tontine series renders two-dimensional paper-based works alongside a purpose-made collection of sculptures in steel, found objects and aluminium.

Mon-Fri: 9am-5pm

Saturday: 9am-1pm 

3 Portswood Road, Cape Town, 8002.

Urban Soundscapes — Crafting Spaces of Belonging by Pat Mautloa | UJ Art Gallery

6 August  - 30 September 

Urban spaces are constantly evolving and taking on multiple forms. Mautloa explores notions of power, authority and the sociopolitical environment through a series of works curated by Thabo Seshoka. The beats and rhythms of imagined urban worlds serenade the viewer in a symphony of the cosmopolitan.

Mon-Fri: 9am-6pm

Saturday: 9am-1pm

UJ APK Campus, Cnr Kingsway/ University Road, Auckland Park.

Umhlaba / The World by Bongi Bengu | Alliance Francaise de Pretoria

11 August - 1 September 

Bengu’s highly versatile work engages in rich social commentary about her life and lived experiences. Through engagement with nature — using clay, soils and collage — her recent outputs reinterprets the meaning of life and the processes of decay and renewal through the use of leaves. Rich textured surfaces and layered textures display her fascination with both nature and tarot alchemy.

Alliance Francaise De Pretoria, 99 River Street (Cnr De Kock Street), Sunnyside.

Resonance Installation by Jenny Nijenhuis | Lizamore & Associates and Constitution Hill

1 - 28 August 

Constitutional Hill, in collaboration with Lizamore & Associates, presents a public-art installation by Nijenhuis at the Women’s Prison Atrium. The installation is open to view during August, Women’s Month, and marks a time of change.

Constitution Hill, 11 Kotze Street, Braamfontein, Johannesburg.

 Showing Skin by Strauss Louw | WHATIFTHEWORLD

30 July - 10 September

The veiled gendered connotations of this exhibition’s title reflects on the narratives of historical homoeroticism and the representation of the male body. Photographic works on hand-sewn fabrics explore desire, gaze, the environment and the importance of the surface, focusing on romanticism rather than academic analysis.

Mon-Thurs: 9am-5pm 

Friday: 9am-4pm 

Saturday: 9am-1pm 

16 Buiten Street, Cape Town City Centre.

Sanctuary by Jo O’Connor | Barnard Cape Town

2 August -  6 September 

Cape Town-based artist Jo O’Connor presents a solo show of paintings at Barnard Gallery. O’Connor remarks on her forthcoming exhibition that “the formal aspects of visual language — the alchemy of colour and tone and the nature of shape and pattern — are variable elements that I attempt to bring together to form a precarious equilibrium: the sum of the parts equals the whole, in other words.

At times the correlation of repetition and ‘considered randomness’  bring to mind rhythm and pattern. Other times, the composition will move elsewhere — choices in the work arise from the work itself and I strive to be attuned and responsive to them.”

Mon-Fri: 9am-5pm 

Barnard Gallery, 55 Main Street, Newlands, Cape Town.

FNB Art Joburg

25 August -  9 September 

One of the largest contemporary art fairs in the Global South is back along with the second iteration of the Open City. The 15-day celebration of Johannesburg’s art scene starts on August 25 and will present various and diverse free experiences across the city, from walkabouts, performances and parties to film screenings and markets.

FNB Art Joburg is curated into five sections:

• HUB — the main section of the fair
• MAX — installations/works challenging scale
• LAB — an incubation space for safe experimentation
• ETC. — prints, publications and ecosystem supporting entities
• AUX — talks and public programming

Sandton Convention Centre, Johannesburg.