ink on paper

Artwork date: 2008
Signature details: signed and dated in red conté bottom right

(1)

80 x 120 cm; framed size: 94 x 134 x 7.5 cm

Provenance:

Private collection, Johannesburg.

ABOUT THE ARTWORK

In 2008, the year in which this ink drawing was created, William Kentridge produced a short film of the same name, Dissolve. Part of a triptych, the films Breathe, Dissolve and Return were initially made to be projected onto the fire screen at La Fenice Opera House in Venice and shown while the orchestra was tuning for the performance. All the sections of the project addressed fragmentation and reconnection. For Kentridge, the completed image was the most simple task, the work was to show the process of disintegration. Breathe used images made from confetti, moved by breath and wind. Return used three-dimensional sculptural objects revolving into and out of coherence, while Dissolve used the instability of water to hold and break images.[1]

In the film Dissolve, the artist stands as an orchestra conductor in a setting bathed in reflections of water. The images ripple and dissolve in constant movement. In Kentridge’s ink drawing, he captures the interior of a theatre which would appear to be La Fenice, where the film was first shown. The ornate ceiling and boxes along the sides of the theatre are captured in quick, loose brushstrokes of ink which range in hues from soft greys to almost black. The layered mark-making echoing the atmosphere of movement in water is integral to the film. In contrast, the word Dissolve is painted on top of the theatre scene in solid tones and with clearly defined edges. Words, or ‘rubrics’, are a common feature in Kentridge's work. Here the letters take centre stage, each confidently formed while the surrounding theatre could be viewed as beginning to disappear or indeed dissolve – as an image dissolves in water.

Stills from the film Dissolve, projected onto the fire curtain at Teatro La Fenice

Over the period when the Breathe, Dissolve and Return films were shown at Teatro La Fenice, a solo exhibition (REPEAT) from the beginning / Da Capo was also held at the Palazzetto Tito in Venice. The show included the films and drawings, lithographs and sculptures related to their creation and was accompanied by a monograph of the same name (published by Charta – Milan). This monograph, notably, includes four drawings of the interior of the theatre; one with no text and the others including the words, Breathe, Dissolve and Return, respectively. The works are remarkably similar to the current lot, which was likely a part of the same creative process.

^{[1] Kentridge, W. (2008). (REPEAT) from the beginning / Da Capo. Milan: Charta. pp.23-25.}

Drawings for (REPEAT) from the beginning / Da Capo, published in, (REPEAT) from the beginning / Da Capo (Charta – Milan), pp.4-7.

One of the things that makes Kentridge stand out as an exceptional artist amongst his peers is his remarkable capacity to work on large projects across disciplines. ­He develops his ideas in theatre, film, sculpture, print and drawing – each work interconnected, building upon the last and an integral part of the whole. If considered within the greater context of his practice and this project, the drawing Dissolve may be viewed as an important aspect of Kentridge’s reflections on the film projections – a kind of visualisation of the artist’s thoughts.

Sarah Sinisi

^{[1] Kentridge, W. (2008). (REPEAT) from the beginning / Da Capo. Milan: Charta. pp.23-25.}

COLLECTIONS

The artist is represented in numerous local collections, notably, Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York; Tate Modern, London; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, California; George Eastman Museum, New York; Honolulu Museum of Art, Honolulu; Kalamazoo Institute of Arts (KIA) Kalamazoo; Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa, Cape Town, Norval Foundation, Iziko South African National Gallery, Cape Town and the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA), Chicago.