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Visual Art Standard Bank Young Artist Award 2012 Exposes the Soul

Mikhael Subotzky (30) is a man of few public words. The 2012 Standard Bank Young Artist Award winner for Visual Art prefers to let his striking photographs do the talking.

“It is a great honour.  I am very grateful for the opportunity and honored to follow in the footsteps of the artists who have previously been given the award,” said Subotzky.

Subotzky was born in Cape Town, and is currently based in Johannesburg. His work has been exhibited widely in major galleries and museums, and his prints are in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, New York, the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, the South African National Gallery, Cape Town, the Johannesburg Art Gallery, and FOAM (FotoMuseum Amsterdam).

“Mikhael Subotzky's technical, aesthetic and academic explorations have seen him become one of the world's exciting photographers,” said Brenton Maart, National Arts Festival committee member for Visual Art. “He uses photography to make images that are both nuanced constructions of colour and light, and also scholarly studies of the peculiarities of South African communities. The young artist establishes the boundaries of his subject matter and, within these confines, delves into fraught and loaded social spaces,” Maart added.

A few of Subotzky’s recent awards and grants include the 2011 Discovery Award at Rencontres de la Photographie Arles, the 2009 Oskar Barnack Award, the 2009 Lou Stouman Award, the 2008 W. Eugene Smith Memorial Grant, the 2008 ICP Infinity Award (Young Photographer), and the 2007 KLM Paul Huf Award.

In early 2008 Subotzky moved to Johannesburg. He has subsequently continued with two long-term projects which are of independent concern, but which have both been influenced by his new context: the backdrop of the city of Johannesburg.

These two projects are presented by the Goodman gallery as works-in-progress, and will both be realised as full exhibitions and publications in the coming years. The first, for which Subotzky was awarded the 2008 W. Eugene Smith Memorial Grant, is a continuation of what has already been a five-year interest in crime, social marginalisation, and the public and private institutions of punishment and security. This investigation started in 2004 with Die Vier Hoeke (The Four Corners), and was continued in subsequent years with the Umjiegwana (The Outside) and the Beaufort West series. In this exhibition, Subotzky presents new works which extend these series&rsq uo; into new environments. Loosely focusing on the lifestyle of fear in South Africa, these works explore both the reality and the concept of security in contemporary society. Presented mainly at the Goodman Gallery’s new project space at Arts on Main, they include new large-scale photographs, as well as older photographs which are exhibited here for the first time.

His second new body of work is being made in collaboration with British artist Patrick Waterhouse. Subotzky and Waterhouse met while on residency together in Italy. They started collaborating in mid-2008 on a project that is geographically located in Berea’s Ponte City building. Combining photography, historical archives, found objects, and interviews, the work spans the pre-history of the building, its spectacular decline, and recent attempts at its transformation. The building is cast as the central character in a tangled narrative which reflects Johannesburg’s magnetic pull on the social and mythical lives of those who come to the City of Gold from all over the country and continent.

Subotzky was included in New Photography 2008: Josephine Meckseper and Mikhael Subotzky at the Museum of Modern Art, New York. His first monograph, Beaufort West, was published the same year and his work has been widely exhibited and collected.

When asked what audiences can expect from Mikhael Subotzky in Grahamstown next year, the response was a mysterious: “A few surprises.”

Ends

About the Standard Bank Young Artist Awards

The Young Artist Awards were started in 1981 by the National Arts Festival to acknowledge emerging, relatively young South African artists who have displayed an outstanding talent in their artistic endeavours. These prestigious awards are presented annually to deserving artists in different disciplines, affording them national exposure and acclaim. Standard Bank took over the sponsorship of the awards in 1984 and presented Young Artist Awards in all the major arts disciplines over their 28-year sponsorship, as well as posthumous and special recognition awards. The winners feature on the main programme of the National Arts Festival, Grahamstown and receive financial support for their Festival participation, as well as a cash prize.