The weather, Mona Lisa and other musings

Art portfolio- my work

Its a beautiful rainy day here at the foot of the Sleeping Beauty mountain range in the Hessequa area. Rainy days are perfect for reading. I am currently reading this book:

I feel as if I should warn you: it is a depressing read (well so far anyway, don’t know how its going to end), but I found the following story about the Mona Lisa in it which I would like to share with you today:

“Vincenzo Peruggia had been hired by the Louvre to construct protective glass cases for a number of paintings. On the evening of August 20, 1911 he and two accomplices hid inside a closet used for storing student art supplies. When they emerged the next morning, Peruggia went straight to the Mona Lisa, removed it from the wall, and carried it out the museum’s main entrance.

At the time, the Mona Lisa wasn’t widely known outside the art world’ it was not the most famous work in its gallery, much less the museum. It took twenty-four hours before the painting’s absence was even noticed. But once it drew the attention of the burgeoning print media, the theft became international intrigue, and the Mona Lisa, now referred to as a masterpiece, became the most famous paining in the world. When the Louvre reopened, after a week of being closed for investigation, queues formed outside for the fist time in the museum’s history. In the two years between the painting’s theft and return, more people came to see the bare wall on which it had hung – “the mark of shame’ – than had ever come to see the paining.

Franz Kafka paid the empty wall a visit within a month of the painting’s disappearance, the absence now among his collection of ‘invisible curiosities’ – sights, events, people, and works of art that he had missed seeing. The following year, perhaps inspired by the experience, Kafka wrote his masterpiece, The Metamorphosis’, in which a man awakes one morning as an insect, his perspective radically altered, and his body – his first home – no longer hospitable.

The fame of the painting has only increased with time – or perhaps it’s more correct to say that the fame of the fame of the painting has increased. People want to see the Mona Lisa because other people want to see the Mona Lisa. The Louvre estimates that 80 percent of those who visit the museum come to see only that one work. It now resides behind 1.52 -inch-thick bulletproof glass. While the purpose of the glass is to protect the world’s most valuable paining , the effect is to enhance our sense of its value and vulnerability. When we look at the Mona Lisa, the bulletproof glass also serves as a corrective lens.”

This story makes me sad. Not because the Mona Lisa was stolen, or that she became famous because she was stolen, It makes me sad because…you know: humans! How does this story make you feel?

Anyway while on the subject of stories, art and books….I was delighted to find out from a fellow artist (who also send me the images. Thanks Barbara!) that an essay was written about my work for a book published in conjunction with the Also Know As Africa Art Fair! (AKAA Art Fair in Paris 2022)

I feel honored and am grateful for the validation.

I just wish that the gallery who represented me in Paris at the fair, bought a copy of this book back to S.A for me, but apparently they were promised 3 copies, and are following up on this.

So on the subject of “Quality of Movement.s” …chin up and keep on moving! Wishing you a wonderful day.

Rugby- a group exhibition

Art portfolio- my work
“The people gathered to watch as the bulls play the final test” 122 x 85 cm Photographic print on board, thread and rubber 2023

Since I don’t watch rugby and I don’t really get caught up in the hype of this sport I decided to focus my attention on the spectators. Trying to figure out why this sport is so popular in our country, since it actually originated in England.  Jaco Taute is a South African retired rugby union player. Are we family? I don’t know. My grandmother is not with us anymore so I can’t ask her, and my aunt who knows a lot about the Taute Family tree suffers from dementia so I cannot ask her either. But I remember my family gathering around the telly to watch rugby. Most of them were avid Stormers supporters, but for this piece I focused on another rugby team.  

Work in progress

I used a family photo for this exhibition and I found the following words to make up the title for this piece: “The people gathered to watch the bulls play the final test.”  (thinking about a popular slogan and newspaper headline: ‘Our blood is blue’ which is commonly used to describe the fans of the Pretoria based South African Rugby Union team: The Blue Bulls.) The title I used is composed of words from the fairy-tale colouring book which tells the story of ‘The golden fleece’ (a Greek myth) which is also one of the oldest myths of a hero’s quest.  To quote Jim Hamilton a former Scotland lock: “Rugby although the ultimate team sport needs casual fans to buy into heroes.  It needs kids to buy into heroes.  We need the media to buy into characters.  We need to make rugby cool.  We need to make it accessible.  It doesn’t need to be about the game but about experiences, about the stories, the athletes.  If it doesn’t happen now, we are going to be left behind.” 

detail

You are invited!

For more information about this group exhibition please contact:  curator at the gallery: donavan.mynhardt@gmail.com

Summer group show at MContemporary

Art portfolio- my work

I am delighted to have some new work included in the summer group show opening tomorrow, 13 December at .MContemporary in Sydney, Australia. You are welcome to join them for end of the year celebrations, but please note that RSVP is essential. Visit the gallery website to find out more www.mcontemp.com or to view the exhibition online in case you cannot make it 😉

in the meantime, ‘the King And The Witch Awaited Their Wedding Day’

The King and the witch awaited their wedding day 2022 Cabinet card, thread and rubber mounted on board size 38.5 x 32 cm
The orange fairy 2022 Cabinet card, thread and rubber mounted on board size 38.5 x 32 cm

meanwhile ‘the Orange fairy’

The two wicked giants helped in the kitchen 2022 Cabinet card, thread and rubber mounted on board size 38.5 x 32 cm

and ‘the two Wicked giants helped in the kitchen.’ while ‘I was magically fooled’.

I was magically fooled 2022 Vintage photo, thread and rubber mounted on board size 38.5 x 32 cm

by ‘the princess and her cat’

The princess and the cat 2022 38.5 x 32 cm Vintage photo, thread and rubber

she was….’This lovely princess was a dog.’

this lovely princess was a dog 2022 Vintage photo, thread and rubber mounted on board size 38.5 x 32 cm

Shocked…. ‘The King and Queen fell asleep’

The King and the Queen fell asleep 2022 Vintage photograph, thread and rubber mounted on board size 400 x 500 mm (SOLD)

and ‘the puppets lived happily ever after’

The puppets lived happily ever after 2022 Cabinet card, thread and rubber

The end.

p.s i hoped you enjoyed the ‘on the spot, unplanned, fun little silly short story’ if you read between the photos…just for fun, and also because I love to experiment with the titles.

Anyway

I also want to wish you and your loved ones a peaceful & wonderful festive season, happy holidays or calm stay-cations – whatever and however this season brings you joy. Thank you for reading my posts as well as the support and feedback. Much appreciated.

Wishing you health, hope and happiness for 2023! I look forward meeting you here again in January.

Take care

Hannalie

AKAA Art Fair with Deepest Darkest Art Gallery

Art portfolio- my work

I am delighted to announce that Deepest Darkest Art Gallery will represent a new body of work at this year’s AKAA (Also Known As Africa) Art Fair in Paris France this year.

Hannalie Taute The tailor stood in front of a tree 2022

I work primarily with the captured image by utilizing vintage photographs sourced from flea markets and even from my own family archives, which are used as is, or blown up to a larger scale as can be seen here.

Hannalie Taute The people gathered to watch as…Beautiful music filled the room

There is a tension in using family photographs because their purpose is sentimental, functional, personal and therefore not usually considered as art objects. By replacing the faces with embroidered rubber masks from different cultures, these vintage photographs become mysterious objects of preservation

Hannalie Taute “Who lives here” asked the beautiful Princess

“Appearances are a construction, a merging from the debris of all that has previously appeared” John Berger

Hannalie Taute “Last night I was kissed by oh, so handsome a man” said the princess 2022

Gary Edson in his book: Masks and masking wrote “The history of early humans continues to be discovered in the symbols, images and myths that have survived and masks are an important part of the process”

Hannalie Taute Noble boys grew to be wise and strong 2022

The masks are a disguise.  It is a method of hiding the identity of an individual for purposes of transformation as can be seen in the work titled: Three noble boys grew to be wise and strong.

Hannalie Taute The puppets bought a ticket for a puppet show 2022

In the work:  The puppets bought a ticket for the puppet show. These portraits, by losing their original identities, have the chance to become something different. They tell a story of distant colonies and traditions taken across continents to an unknown land populated by, in this case, puppets.

These discarded remnants of the past are reworked, and the treatment of these remnants are at times ghoulish and macabre, for example “Thank you for saving my life said the wicked cat” where I used a photograph of my mother in law as a child and We both love cats.  The lace like skull (constructed from discarded doillies – by the way a doillie is a small ornamental mat made of lace or paper or thread and are usually put on a plate under cakes or other sweet food.  ) This work is perhaps symbolic of the end of youth and a look at my own mortality.

Hannalie Taute “Thank you for saving my life” said the wicked cat

Text used as titles, are like the photographs – found, reconfigured and appropriated as a narrative. I am interested in how simply changing the text underneath an image can radically altered the image’s message.

The combination of text and photos gives me freedom to make relationships between words cut from vintage colouring books and found photographs as well as my own embroidered masks inspired by African, and other cultural masks.

Fairy tales and characters from stories are a theme that goes back to some of my earliest works – like these doll like rubber works that can be seen here:

A MOO-dy girl

So if you find yourself in Paris from tomorrow 21 October 2022- 23 October 2022, please pop in at Booth B12 Carreau du Temple, 4 Rue Eugene Spuller, Paris, to view the works in the flesh!

I wish you a good Knight – I mean night 😉

A good Knight

p.s if you can not make it to Paris, feel free to register your interest with the gallery by sending an email to info@deepestdarkestart.com

“Diversity”

Art portfolio- my work

“We all should know that diversity makes for a rich tapestry. And we must understand that all the threads of the tapestry are equal in value no matter what their colour.” – Maya Angelou

Diversity Fiber Art Exhibition curated by Dal Botha is an extraordinary satellite exhibition of the South African Quilt Festival featuring artists from across South Africa.

So I am happy to announce that my work “The sly fox a cat and a fish magically appeared’ is included in this exhibition

The sly fox a cat and a fish magically appeared 2022 photographic print, thread and rubber 122 x 87.5 cm Hannalie Taute

This exhibition can be viewed from the 5th of October 2022 until the end of January 2023 at the Rupert Museum in Stellenbosch.

invitation
detail

for more info please contact Dal Botha at dalbotha@netscape.net