1st Sep, 2019 9:30
Modern & Contemporary Art
15
Billie Zangewa (Malawi 1973-)
The Cotswolds
embroidered silk
Artwork date: 2009
Signature details: signed and dated bottom right
Sold for R227,600
Estimated at R150,000 - R250,000
embroidered silk
Artwork date: 2009
Signature details: signed and dated bottom right
(1)
43.5 x 50 cm
Notes:
Billie Zangewa uses silk to create intricate tapestries that reflect light in different ways, based on the position of the viewer relative to the artwork. This results in artworks that appear to dance and perform as the gaze changes and the viewer moves around the image’s environment. Artworks that defy replication in print media or on a computer screen, these are sensory objects that must be viewed in person.Zangewa grew up in Gaborone, where there was limited availability of an artist’s usual infrastructure – no studios, no printing presses, none of the typical materials one would normally associate with the creation of fine art. From this came something remarkable. “To make art I had to use what was available” explains the artist, “[m]y creativity comes from lack – I had to work from scratch”.[i] Later, living in Johannesburg, she was moved by the reflection of the highveld sun on the glass of inner-city buildings, and how it would pixelate and change on her commute between Kensington and Rosebank. Conscious of her silk’s similar response to light, Zangewa started collecting swathes of the fabric from local shops, using the raw silk offcuts to create detailed hand-stitched collages – predominantly figurative compositions and cityscapes. Born in Malawi, growing up in Gaborone, now living and practicing in Johannesburg, Zangewa explores her intersectional identity in the contemporary context, “constantly challenging the historical stereotyping, objectification and exploitation of the black female body”.[ii] Her work is concerned with her lived experience, domestic preoccupations and the underlying universal themes that connect us to each other.The present lot was produced while Zangewa was living in England. In an email correspondence, the artist says she went to the Cotswolds on a trip for her birthday in the middle of winter. For her the area is the most beautiful part of England, and she was particularly drawn to the barren winter trees. The piece is a celebration of the beauty of the place.
Ruarc Peffers
Sources:
[i] Interview with Andrea Nagel in Times Live “Billie Zangewa is proving critics who say feminine art doesn’t sell wrong” published 8 July 2018:https://www.timeslive.co.za/sunday-times/lifestyle/2018-07-07-billie-zangewa-is-proving-critics-who-say-feminine-art-doesnt-sell-wrong/, accessed 28 July 2019
[ii] http://www.blankprojects.com/cv-and-bio/billie-zangewa-cv-bio/, accessed 28 July 2019
[iii] email correspondence with Alexia Walker, 2 August 2019.
You can place an absentee bid through our website - please sign in to your account on our website to proceed.
In the My Account tab you can also enter telephone bids, or email bids@aspireart.net to log telephone/absentee bids.
Join us on the day of the auction to follow and bid in real-time.
The auction will be live-streamed with an audio-visual feed.
Auction: Modern & Contemporary Art, 1st Sep, 2019
Currency conversions are based on the exchange rate at the auction's start time and date. Bidders should verify the current exchange rate on the day of the sale. All invoices and payments must be made in South African Rands.
IMPORTANT NOTICE:
Logistics
While we endeavour to assist our Clients as much as possible, we require artwork(s) to be delivered and/or collected from our premises by the Client. In instances where a Client is unable to deliver or collect artwork(s), Aspire staff is available to assist in this process by outsourcing the services to one of our preferred Service Providers. The cost for this will be for the Client’s account, with an additional Handling Fee of 15% charged on top of the Service Provider’s invoice.
Aspire Art provides inter-company transfer services for its Clients between Johannesburg and Cape Town branches. These are based on the size of the artwork(s), and charged as follows:
Small (≤60x90x10 cm): R480
Medium (≤90x120x15 cm): R960
Large (≤120x150x20 cm): R1,440
Over-size: Special quote
Should artwork(s) be collected or delivered to/from Clients by Aspire Art directly, the following charges will apply:
Collection/delivery ≤20km: R400
Collection/delivery 20km>R800≤50km
Collection/delivery >50km: Special quote
Packaging
A flat fee of R100 will be added to the invoice for packaging of unframed works on paper.
International Collectors Shipping Package
For collectors based outside South Africa who purchase regularly from Aspire Art’s auctions in South Africa, it does not make sense to ship artworks individually or per auction and pay shipping every time you buy another work. Consequently, we have developed a special collectors’ shipping package to assist in reducing shipping costs and the constant demands of logistics arrangements.
For buyers from outside South Africa, we will keep the artworks you have purchased in storage during the year and then ship all the works you have acquired during the year together, so the shipping costs are reduced. At the end of the annual period, we will source various quotes to get you the best price, and ship all your artworks to your desired address at once.
Aspire Art will arrange suitable storage during, and cost-effective shipping at the end, of the annual period.
Collections
Collections are by appointment, with 24-hours’ notice
Clients are requested to contact the relevant office and inform Aspire Art of which artwork(s) they would like to collect, and allow a 24-hour window for Aspire Art’s logistics department to retrieve the artwork(s) and prepare them for collection.
Handling Fee
Aspire Art charges a 15% Handling Fee on all Logistics, Framing, Restoration and Conservation arranged by Aspire.