27th Mar, 2017 15:00
Historic, Modern & Contemporary Art
149
Athi-Patra Ruga (South Africa 1984-)
Castrato as [the] Revolution
wool and tapestry thread on tapestry canvas
Artwork date: 2010
Exhibited: Galerie Judin, Berlin, The Beautyful Ones, curated by Storm Janse van Rensburg, 26 April to 6 July 2013. Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art, New York, Queer Threads: Crafting Identity and Community, 17 January to 16 March 2014.
Literature: Ruga, A. (2014). The Works 2006–2013. Cape Town: Whatiftheworld, colour illustration on p.10.
Sold for R261,464
Estimated at R200,000 - R300,000
wool and tapestry thread on tapestry canvas
Artwork date: 2010
Exhibited: Galerie Judin, Berlin, The Beautyful Ones, curated by Storm Janse van Rensburg, 26 April to 6 July 2013. Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art, New York, Queer Threads: Crafting Identity and Community, 17 January to 16 March 2014.
Literature: Ruga, A. (2014). The Works 2006–2013. Cape Town: Whatiftheworld, colour illustration on p.10.
(1)
133 x 96 cm
Notes:
Athi-Patra Ruga has been making waves. The artist followed up his 2015 Standard Bank Young Artist award, easily South Africa’s most prestigious arts accolade, with a 2016 performance at the Performa Biennale that eminent New York Times critic Hilary Moss called ‘beyond brilliant.’ Although Ruga’s practice has increasingly revolved around such spectacular live setpieces, he was first known for his extravagant, irreverent apestries, of which Castrato as [the] Revolution is a fine example. The choice to work in hand-stitching is a nod to Ruga’s previous life in fashion design, where he refined his eye for texture and colour while cultivating an edginess that carries through into his more recent output. As a result, Ruga has carved out a niche for himself as an artist who is unafraid of provocation but always attuned to style.Like much of his ouevre, Castrato has the humid feel of a fever dream. A black man sprawls across the canvas with abandon, his pink gloves bright against a glittering bodysuit from which a prominent phallus protrudes. A bar across the man’s eyes obscures his identity but also serves to draw attention to the rich hues of his face, while behind him, fields of saturated orange and blue pulse with the visual equivalent of an electric charge. The work riffs off older traditions of portraiture – specifically the lush exoticism of Irma Stern’s paintings – but affords this ancestry a camp, more contemporary spin. Where Stern’s subjects passively receive the gaze, anticipating romanticisation by the viewer, Ruga’s resist it. They withhold and they push back. In Castrato, this resistance is literalised by the jagged band of black that disrupts the contours of the subject’s face. Even if we wanted to, we can never achieve the intimacy that his body language seems to invite. His carnality, like his outfit, is a challenge.
Anna Stielau
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, 27th Mar, 2017
The Inaugural Cape Auction offed a diverse range of top-quality historic, modern and contemporary works. With a focus on critically engaged art and a curated approach, seasoned and new collectors competed to acquire significant works.
Aspire’s commitment to the growth of the art market saw international records broken in recognition of exiled South African artists. Louis Maqhubela’s Exiled King, a definitive, politically motivated work, sold for R341,040 - three times his previous record, and Albert Adams’ Untitled (Four Figures with Pitchforks), his first appearance at auction, sold for R136,416. Top prices were also achieved for established artists including J.H Pierneef, William Kentridge, and Edoardo Villa, and contemporary artwork fared exceptionally with record prices for David Brown, Steven Cohen, Mohau Modisakeng, Moshekwa Langa, and Mikhael Subotzky.
Viewing
Friday 24 March 2017 | 10 am – 7 pm
Saturday 25 March 2017 | 10 am – 5 pm
Sunday 26 March 2017 | 10 am – 4 pm
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.