Insights features the work of nine contemporary artists from the museum's collection. By displaying ensembles rather than individual works, the exhibition reveals the artistic process and play of experimentation, continuity and change in each artist's chosen subjects and materials. The artwork on exhibit reflects the collection's strength in contemporary South African art.

Visitors may perceive relationships among the works, perhaps even those not anticipated by the artists themselves. As artist Sue Williamson suggests, "art has several lives--it has one life when you are actually making it, and that process is important for the artist. . . . Then when that's finished, the art begins the second phase of its life, where people react to it in a particular space--in a gallery."

Artists' insights are presented in quotes that illuminate and personalize the works on display, while the curators' comments impart the broader cultural and political themes that inform each artist's work. Together, these insights reveal the artists' varied use of visual metaphor, allegory, myth and even movement to evoke a range of experiences--the joy of masquerade, the resiliency of community, pride of place and the physical and psychic violence of political oppression.

To artists and visitors alike, art is insight: it is about the power to see into the world and to transform it in the process.

The Artists' featured in this exhibition are:
Sokari Douglas Camp, William Kentridge, Jeremy Wafer, Zwelethu Mthethwa, Georgia Papageorge, Ezrom Legae, Iba N'Diaye, Gavin Jantjes, Sue Williamson.

"Insights" refers to artists' and curators' insights, as well as those of the viewers. Creators' and curators' perspectives appear in the gallery. With the help of digital technology, we invite viewers to include their own insights to provide another important perspective on the artwork.

When you see this button click on it to email us your insight.

The exhibition, co-curated by Kinsey Katchka and Allyson Purpura, reflects museum director Sharon F. Patton's interest in fostering inventive approaches to exhibiting the museum's collection by including newer staff members in the curatorial process.

"As a dynamic institution, we are committed to displaying African art in innovative ways," said Patton. "This exhibition not only presents the material in a new way, but provides a new curatorial voice, in this case the voice of two promising curators."

Click here to download the brochure.