THE AVA GALLERY
in partnership with Spier

Invites you to the opening of

A Natural Selection: 1991-2011

Curated by Clare Butcher

Participating artists, interventions and selectors:

Bill Ainslie
Sanell Aggenbach
Bridget Baker
Beezy Bailey/Joyce Ntobe
Bianca Baldi
Lynette Bester
Willie Bester
Lien Botha
Kevin Brand
Justin Brett
Jean Brundrit
Katherine Bull
Francis Burger
Kirsty Cockerill
Lionel Davis
Barend de Wet
Tracey Derrick
Brendhan Dickerson
Josh Ginsburg
Stephen Inggs
Waddy Jones
Svea Josephy
David Koloane
Andrew Lamprecht
Fritha Langerman
Louise Linder
Johann Louw
Charles Maggs
Isaac Makeleni
Thando Mama
Dillon Marsh
Colbert Mashile
Richard Mason
Clare Menck
Zwelethu Mthethwa
Brett Murray
Daniel Naudé
Christian Nerf
Gabi Ngcobo
Ndikhumbule Ngqinambi
Selvin November
Andrew Putter
Sonya Rademeyer (& Aliaa El'Gready)
Lyndi Sales
Claudette Schreuders
Eris Silke
John Skotnes
David Southwood
Gregg Smith
Michael Taylor
Jill Trappler
Johann van der Schijff
Francois Van Reenen
Mandla Vanyaza
Donovan Ward
James Webb
Robert Weinek
Max Wolpe
Wonder

To talk about the development of a contemporary art scene using scientific terms like “Natural Selection” seems odd. But in fact, the changing cultural climate, political terrain and available resources determining artistic evolution in an ecosphere like
Cape Town, are at times quite Darwinian. Which qualities are inherited? What are the connecting traits? Are there radically new qualities which adapt under pressure?
The second half of the 40-year retrospective exhibition at the Association for Visual Arts in
Cape Town, focuses on one such period of pressure – 1991-2011 – and presents a selection (out of the many possible) of works from the artistic network evolving around this organisation.

The arts community is made up of multiple interdependent relationships – the artists, the gallerists, the framers, the funders, the institutions, the markets, the passports, the journalists, and importantly: the viewers. Each of these groups may use their own languages, have their own dress code, and negotiate personal politics in very different ways. But when seen together in the context of an exhibition, we get a sense of some of the “family resemblances” between them.
Making these associations is a central tenet of the AVA’s work and as such, the Association for Visual Arts together with curator, Clare Butcher, have invited members from the arts community in the region to make a number of selections of existing works and create new interventions.
The result is a collaborative reflection of the dynamic nature of artistic practices that criss-cross genres and techniques, as well as the need for a symbiosis that spans the recent past, present and future.