31st Oct, 2016 20:00
Historic, Modern & Contemporary Art
60
Dan Halter (Zimbabwe 1977-)
Black Light
ultraviolet neon tubing
Artwork date: 2006
Signature details: accompanied by a certificate of authenticity.
Edition: Edition of 5 and 2 Artist's Proofs. This is an Artist's Proof
Exhibited: João Ferreira Gallery, Cape Town, Take Me To Your Leader (solo show), 6 to 30 September 2008.
Literature: (2013). Dan Halter: Selected Works. Cape Town: WHATIFTHEWORLD, colour illustration pp.108-109.
Sold for R34,104
Estimated at R30,000 - R50,000
ultraviolet neon tubing
Artwork date: 2006
Signature details: accompanied by a certificate of authenticity.
Edition: Edition of 5 and 2 Artist's Proofs. This is an Artist's Proof
Exhibited: João Ferreira Gallery, Cape Town, Take Me To Your Leader (solo show), 6 to 30 September 2008.
Literature: (2013). Dan Halter: Selected Works. Cape Town: WHATIFTHEWORLD, colour illustration pp.108-109.
(1)
50 x 100 cm
Notes:
Perfection’ is the name of a well-known brand of soap in Zimbabwe. The link between cleansing and a state of perfection is perhaps suggestive in the context of Zimbabwe’s recent history but the original inspiration for this work came from an embroidered scatter cushion produced in the Eastern Highlands of Zimbabwe that the artist saw. A cheerful scene showed a taxi filled with people and the word ‘pefection’ (without the letter r) emblazoned on the side. Perhaps for the artist the notion of the very word perfection being imperfectly rendered echoes a state of denial or ignorance at play in the Zimbabwe political landscape.
The fact that black light (given off by UV lighting) makes white things stand out and glow unnaturally is also worthy of noting. The play of race politics and the act of singling out white farmers (alluded to in other works by the artist at the time of the making of Black Light) speaks to the artist’s often ambivalent relationship to categories such as ‘whiteness’ while acknowledging historical and political realities. The fact that black light and the day-glo colours that are activated by it were frequently used in the rave culture of the 1990s links this work to Halter’s well-known exploration of that sub-culture (Halter, 2006).
The elegance of the calligraphy with which the imperfect ‘pefection’ is portrayed perhaps indicates Halter’s longstanding concern with branding and the way that surface appearances often obscure deeper meanings. This complex and multi-layered work can be read on many levels, none of which are definitive and all of which, in their own way, are imperfect.
Andrew Lamprecht
Exhibited:
Take Me To Your Leader (solo show). João Ferreira Gallery, Cape Town: (6-30 September 2006).
Sources:
Halter, D. (2006). Take me to your leader. Cape Town: João Ferreira Gallery. (Illustrated on pp. 78-79).
Grateful acknowledgement is made to Dan Halter for information included in this essay.
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: Historic, Modern & Contemporary Art, 31st Oct, 2016
The line-up for our inaugural sale included an extraordinary selection of art. Works ranged from JH Pierneef’s breathtaking Karoo near Hofmeyer, painted in 1930, to Dan Halter’s 2006, ultraviolet light, Pefection.
Sculptures varied from Edoardo Villa’s acknowledgment of French artist, Aristide Maillol to Wim Botha’s heads that draw on classical and contemporary sources and Ed Young’s cheeky nude self-portrait. Also included were impressive photographs by award-winners, David Goldblatt and Pieter Hugo.
The auction set an impressive standard, with an outstanding sell-through rate of over 75% across 121 lots. The top lot of the sale was Alexis Preller’s exceptional Profile Figures (Mirrored Image), selling for over R7-million. Record sales were achieved for Villa, Goldblatt, and Hugo, amongst others.
Viewing
Friday 28 October 2016 | 10 am – 5 pm
Saturday 28 October 2016 | 10 am – 5 pm
Sunday 28 October 2016 | 10 am – 4 pm
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.