Hudson Approach: Kentridge on the verge of that Manhattan transfer

24 November 2015 - 02:15 By Sean O'Toole

William Kentridge is the toast of New York, again. His production of Austrian composer Alban Berg's libretto Lulu at the Metropolitan Opera received an "ardent ovation" at its premiere earlier this month, according to The New York Times.Feedback has been varied, but the overall critical response is positive. This is no mean feat. Berg's expressionist masterpiece is a New York standard and has been a fixture at the Met since its US debut in 1977.Capitalising on Kentridge's current visibility, the artist's New York dealer, Marian Goodman, is hosting a solo exhibition. Drawings for Lulu is composed of a suite of 67 linocut drawings started in 2011.When Kentridge visited New York in 1986, shortly after showing at dealer Reinhold Cassirer's gallery in Johannesburg, his early drawings received a cool response."I worked in drawing not painting, which was seen then as an ancillary activity," he said in 2005.Though New York is currently chock-a-block with exhibitions by South African artists - including photographer Jo Ratcliffe's solo at the Met Museum, as well as shows by Frances Goodman, Sean Slemon and Zanele Muholi - local painters are yet to crack this key marketplace. South African-born Marlene Dumas is a rare exception.Some observers are hoping that Cape Town street artist and painter Faith47's debut solo exhibition, Aqua Regalia, at Jonathan LeVine Gallery in Chelsea, might mark a change. The exhibition, which is stocked with ink, graphite and oil figure studies on raw timber, showcases her accomplished draughtsmanship.Similar to printmaker Diane Victor, Faith47 does not disguise her messaging and can deploy blunt metaphors.The title of her Chelsea show is a corruption of aqua regia, a highly corrosive mixture used to refine high-quality gold. Whether Faith47 will strike gold with her show remains to be seen...

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