Fun and games

Local artist Michael MacGarry's work looks at the socio-political and economic issues in various African countries.
Posted 26 May 11 By Design Indaba Creative Work / Design News Comments

Entertainment, a solo exhibition by Michael MacGarry, presents a comprehensive body of work, including small and large-scale sculptures, photography and films. The works in different mediums all look to MacGarry's concern with contemporary socio-political and economic life in various African countries. These elements also relate to a broader conjecture about future projections and fiction on the African continent as a whole.

Taking place at Brodie Stevenson in Johnnesburg until 1 July 2011, the themes in Entertainment are partnered with a new film, The Race of Man, focussing on modern, Western male imperatives to "penetrate the interior, erect large buildings and meet for the first time with ancient, autonomous civilizations and to kill them". The Race of Man then parodies these uniquely male imperatives within the context of an immersive digital game platform called The Monform.

Selected objects from the film will accompany the screening as part of the ongoing Animist series by the artist, along with a bronze work titled Onan the Magnificent – a portrait of the main character in the film.

The Entertainment exhibition will also be used to launch the limited-edition artist's publication The Republic ofLuanda, the photographic and conceptual result of research trips to the capital of Angola over a two year period.

Based in Cape Town, MacGarry holds a masters degree in fine art. In 2010 he was the recipient of the Standard Bank Young Artist Award in 2010.