Jeppestown Mural -- Fotos

A corner of Jeppestown now has a 'Golden City Plan' with a difference. Sandile Radebe yesterday transformed a disused wall surface into a city grid mural morphed into block lettering. Depending upon your orientation as a viewer, his silver and gold block alphabet can be multiply read -- as different letters and sometimes integers instead. In their composite playful form, they suggest both a celebration of the golden city of Johannesburg and its bright lights while also critiquing top-down urban planning.

This public space artwork is conceptual cousin to Radebe's inaugural solo exhibition held last month, 'A Walk in the City', and is facilitated by guerilla gallery. Sandile was assisted by Chaduka Phiri in painting 'Golden City Plan'. Below is documentation from the day -- all the images are taken by Clarence Phiri.  

guerilla gallery - concept

guerilla gallery (b. 2012) is an artist-led initiative located in Johannesburg, South Africa. It eschews its own bricks and mortar to temporarily inhabit vacant spaces in Johannesburg CBD buildings with art exhibitions or installations.

Aims

guerilla gallery aims to contribute to the broader creative rejuvenation of innercity Johannesburg through encouraging imaginative responses to the urban environment. Its primary objective is to provide visual artists in South Africa with the opportunity to exhibit their work in an experimental context, facilitating production that may not suit a more formal exhibition venue. guerilla gallery is a non-profit enterprise, enabling projects without commercial imperatives. It also hopes to extend the viewing audience by positing art in surprising venues and reinvesting buildings with cultural value.

Motivation

guerilla gallery is broadly inspired by the global ‘pop-up’ cultural phenomenon markedly evident over recent years. This trend effectively harnesses unusual venues to host transient cultural events, often interdisciplinary and experimental in nature. The idea speaks also to ‘guerilla’ marketing, which uses low-cost and unconventional means to convey a message.

Scope



The canvas for guerilla gallery is the ambit of Johannesburg’s CBD. It may extend to other vicinities in future. guerilla gallery interventions may run for an evening, 24 hours, a week or a month – the project and selected space together determine the timeframes.

Logistics and Resources

guerilla gallery is a non-profit initiative: all costs relating to the artwork, including but not limited to transport, insurance and installation, are organised and covered by participating artists. guerilla gallery provides the physical location, curatorial direction, installation assistance and marketing, primarily through social media. Artist applications are welcome (see contact details).

--Abridged founding document, Kim Gurney, Johannesburg, 2012