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For immediate release
Manfred Zylla
News of upcoming Auction, Exhibitions & Book Launch
Manfred Zylla
120 Days of Sodom
A series of 120 individual paintings
Mixed media on paper
15 x 21cm, 2012/2013
This series of work found its genesis with a pack of paper in 2012. The paper size
stimulated the idea of producing a series as homage to Pasolini’s last made film,
Salò. Each painting is presented inside the outline of a television screen. It is a nonsequential series, book-ended with only a planned opening and closing painting.
With this series Zylla also acknowledges the life-long influences Dante, and to a lesser
extent Marquis De Sade had in his career as artist. In the way that the film 120 Days
of Sodom by Pasolini could be seen as a reply to the Marquis de Sade, so is this series
of work, a reply to both Pasolini and De Sade’s 120 Days of Sodom.
This series comments broadly on sexual violence, power, capitalism, censorship and
possession; issues long associated with this artist’s career.
After the sale of the series, permission was sought to produce a publication with the
same title, 120 Days of Sodom. The book includes a leading essay by Trevor Steele
Taylor and more than twenty five contributions in a variety of languages, by a host of
contributors drawn from across the globe. (Prof Rozena Maart, John Peffer, Dr
Nomusa Makhubu, Tim Leibbrandt, Ludwig Binge, Stephen Thrower, Pablo Cesar,
James Matthews and many more).
The publication will be launch at the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown on Friday
3 July 2015. Zylla will be present at the launch.
Manfred Zylla
Waiting For…
Solo Exhibition of new drawings & paintings
National Arts Festival, Grahamstown
2 – 12 July 2015
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Zylla’s latest solo exhibition, Waiting for… is produced specifically for the National
Arts Festival 2015, and will be shown alongside projections of his series entitled, 120
Days of Sodom.
In his new series, Waiting for… Zylla extends his interested in the work of Italian
filmmaker Pier Paolo Pasolini. Zylla’s drawings and paintings are informed by the
directors’ notes and anecdotes – relating to his process of filmmaking. Zylla’s
drawings are interpretations of Pasolini’s instructions and suggestions to his cast and
crew. It also includes pencil sketch-portraits of Pasolini at work.
Co-Existence - Part II
Manfred Zylla I Garth Erasmus I Antonin Mareš
Erdmann Contemporary, Cape Town
21 July – 29 August 2015
This group exhibition constitutes the second installment of a series of exhibitions
established in 2014. Co-Existence - Part I featured three artists from three continents
(Bronwen Vaughan-Evans/Australia, Jan Smith/Mexico and Nomusa Makhubu/South
Africa) who dealt with issues of displacement, migration, isolation and post-colonial
identity.
Now three diverse artists, have again been brought together to explore the notion of
environmental politics, dislocation, strife, societal conflict and identity. Zylla and
Mareš’ collaborations date back to the early 1990’s when they participated in a
traveling museum project for Handicap International. Zylla and Erasmus have also
collaborated in joined exhibitions in both South Africa and Europe for the past
twenty years.
About Manfred Zylla
German born, South African based Manfred Zylla became prominent as an artist
highly critical of apartheid in the 1980’s. His hard-hitting drawings, prints and
paintings emphasized the brutality and violence of that time. His works are widely
acknowledged as critical for understanding resistance art, an important chapter in
South African art history.
In 2012 his lifework was curated into a travelling museum exhibition entitled In
Retrospect and went on view at museums throughout South Africa. The publication,
Manfred Zylla Art & Resistance, launched at the same time as the exhibition
provided the broader insight into this artist’s long and dynamic career.
Zylla’s works are included in museum collections in South Africa and Europe, and in
private collections in United States, Canada, South America, England, Europe and
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Asia. One of his drawings will be included in the upcoming Bonhams London Africa
auction in May 2015.
Zylla lives and works in Cape Town, South Africa and Munich, Germany. He is also a
member of the experimental music group, AS IS with fellow artists, Niklas Zimmer &
Garth Erasmus. The group performs regularly in Cape Town and occasionally in
Germany.
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