Jonathan Garnham
IWL met up with Jonathan Garnham who runs the Blank Projects gallery in Woodstock. A dapper Jonathan on crutches greets me at the door but quickly assures me that he is recovering well, so after a quick tour around the setup for the exhibition tonight, we get straight into it.
Mary Wafer High Violet
First I ask him about his background and where the idea for blank projects came from. (Personal disclaimer – the author of this post is in no way affiliated to the gallery). Jonathan Garnham spent most of the nineties in Berlin where he studied and lived for 10 years. When he returned in 2003 he saw that there were only a few galleries in Cape Town, and these were expensive and primarily showing market orientated art with a fixed stable of artists. This excluded a great many artists especially emerging artists.
Jonathan is quick to stress that he is not opposed to market-orientated art but that this often results in less commercially orientated work being excluded, for example James Webb’s Le marche Orientale.
Le Marche Oriental
Jonathan wanted to create a space where artists could display at no cost – what he calls a project space and which he believes may have been the first of its kind in Cape Town – where both emerging and established artists could develop art as well exhibit. And so blank projects was born, opening in the Bo-kaap in 2005 and then moving to Woodstock in October 2008.
It is clear that he strongly believes in offering a platform for emerging artists who may not otherwise get a chance to exhibit, and that we as art viewers would not otherwise have a chance to see. By now, quite a number of artists have had their first solo exhibition in this space. Each show is up for one month, though he laments that ideally this is too short.
Katherine Bull
We move onto funding and what this means for a gallery when you are displaying artists at no charge. blank projects is clearly a project of passion, the initial capital and more coming out of his own pocket. When the gallery was still in the Bo-kaap, the gallery was open by appointment only and there were no flyers. Thankfully, they received some funding from Pro Helvetia for the first 3 years and are now assisted by the Goethe institute, though this is still not quite enough. The difference is made up by sales of artworks and many of the shows have been successful.
Skattie What are you Wearing
They still have a strong relationship with Pro Helvetia which shares a residency program with Blank projects enabling an exchange between Swiss and South Africa artists. And as a gallery, they are approachable and any artist can apply with a proposal. The Blank Projects team then makes their selection every quarter.
Phil Collins
Finally we talk about Woodstock and the obvious renaissance the area is experiencing. This particular area on the Sir Lowry Strip is home to a cluster of art galleries formed around Michael Stephenson, The Goodman Gallery and Blank Projects. More shops are opening up and foot traffic is on the rise though Jonathan adds that some people appear to be a little wary of entering the gallery, unsure, perhaps of what awaits them with the gallery’s edgier tone (though it could just be a general fear of galleries that random visitors may experience).
He adds that the low cost of rent and the proximity to town as well as the buzz that this area clearly has at the moment are important. In fact, many artists have made Woodstock their home due to the available studio space and affordability.
As we wrap up the interview, he recalls the very first show in Woodstock; the gallery still had no windows and no electricity and they had to borrow power from Kitchen (the deli) next door. Artists had to work with the construction around them. When retelling the story, it’s almost as if he yearns for those early days.
The current exhibition at blank projects is THE INDEPENDENT PUBLISHING PROJECT facilitated by Jonah Sack and Francis Burger and which runs from 08/09/2011 – 01/10/2011
Please visit here the blank projects website for more information.