Fringe Facsimiles | Fine art edition print
(A LEISURELY MANIFESTO)

FRINGE | A LEISURELY MANIFESTO | FINE ART EDITION PRINT | 110cm x 70cm | 285gsm Fabriano paper / natural edge / embellished

FRINGE FACSIMILES

A LEISURELY MANIFESTO: 20 +1 = WHEN WE GOT THERE THERE WASN’T A THERE THERE.

The unlikely attraction of two global icons: Jason Freeny and Gertrude Stein forms the basis of the latest FRINGE print. #10 of 12 in the Facsimile series makes oblique reference to the artist’s previous print claiming ‘2020 you fucked us good and proper.’

Now, the latest work reflects on the global expectation that 2021 would be a year of massive change. Paraphrasing the words of the great art collector, Gertrude Stein, we are reminded that the more things change, the more they stay the same.

The art of Freeny makes an appearance – and in this context reminds us that appearances are not everything. Even the stereotypical, pristine beauty of a Barbie Doll is upstaged by the reality that all humans are really made up of blood and guts.

Price: R10800.00 per print.

Price for the entire series (13 prints) R108000.00
(edition size 40)

FOR INFORMATION EMAIL

info@daville.co.za

WELCOME ON BOARD | PHILIPPE SHANGTI | FINE ART PHOTOGRAPHY EDITION SIZE 7 |

150CM X 150CM

Contemporary French photographer Philippe Shangti is known for his glamorous aesthetic, colorful sense of humor and a provocative aspect which seeks to break down taboos. Originally from Toulouse in the south of France, Shangti was selected in 2019 to represent his county at the 58th Venice Bienalle and currently has an exhibit on display at the Museum of Fine Arts in Carcassonne, France. His work is highly sought after and has garnered the attention of investors and collectors worldwide.

FOR INFORMATION EMAIL

info@daville.co.za

BLAZING SADDLES | DAVID YARROW | FINE ART PHOTOGRAPHY EDITION SIZE 12 |

142CM X 223CM OR 93CM X 147CM

David’s evocative and immersive photography of life on earth is most distinctive and has earned him an ever growing following amongst art collectors. His large monochrome images made in Los Angeles are on display in leading galleries and museums across Europe and North America. He is now recognised as one of the best selling fine art photographers in the world and his limited edition works regularly sell at high prices at Sotheby’s and other auction houses.

FOR INFORMATION EMAIL

info@daville.co.za

FRINGE | AUTHORITY VS VELOCITY | FINE ART PRINT | 100CM X 70CM | GOLD LEAF embellished – release date 15\01\2021

“Facsimile Series” by Fringe is currently on its eighth “piece” release. The series is comprised of 12 works which started in June 2020 and will end in June 2021 with a thirteenth bonus work to all box set collectors.

1. REDACTION – release June 2020
2. BELIEVING – release July 2020
3. PLAYTIME – release August 2020
4. THE BIG APPLE – release September 2020
5. IS ART REALLY ANYTHING YOU CAN GET AWAY WITH? – release October 2020
6. ELEVEN ELEVEN – release November 2020
7. MEIN EYGENE OIGEN – release December 2020
8. AUTHORITY VS VELOCITY – release January 2021
9. OUR ONLY TERM – release February 2021
10. A LEISURELY MANIFESTO – release March 2021

 FOR INFORMATION EMAIL

info@daville.co.za

FRINGE | MEIN EYGENE OIGEN | FINE ART PRINT | 100CM X 70CM #7 MEIN EYGENE OIGEN – release date 15/12/2020

ROGER BALLEN | SMOKED OUT | ARCHIVAL PIGMENT PRINT | 80CM X 80CM

Daville Baillie Gallery takes great pleasure inviting you to the opening of the exhibition

  ROGER THE RAT

by renowned photographer Roger Ballen

to coincide with the publication of his new book

on 6 December 2020

11am to 2pm

A selection of images from the artist’s series Roger the Rat will be exhibited until February 2021. The opening event, to coincide with the First Sundays gatherings at Victoria Yards, will include a launch of the book published by Hatje Cantz (Germany) and distributed by Jonathan Ball in South Africa.

ABOUT ROGER THE RAT

Released in the Year of the Rat, the photographic series and book Roger the Rat is surreal, refined and disturbing. Roger Ballen has made a name for himself with his special eye for what is usually considered minor or outside, yet is nevertheless profound and touching. In his hands, the documentary power of the camera merges with the ingenious power of his imagination to peer into the soul and get under the viewer’s skin. Elaborately produced between 2015 and 2020, his new project is fresh and, amazingly, alive with pop art elements

In impressive, sharp black-and-white shots, he follows the life of a creature whose body appears human, but who has the head of a rat. We witness absurd scenes that, deconstructed and wrested from everyday gestures, reveal the suppressed aspects of human existence.

ABOUT ROGER BALLEN

Born in New York City and living in South Africa since 1982, Roger is one of the most important and original art photographers working today. He is best known for his probing, often challenging images that exist in a space between painting, drawing, installation, and photography. His universally recognised style is now commonly referred to as a ‘Ballenesque’.

ROGER BALLEN | SMOKED OUT | ARCHIVAL PIGMENT PRINT | 80CM X 80CM

Daville Baillie Gallery takes great pleasure inviting you to the opening of the exhibition

  ROGER THE RAT

by renowned photographer Roger Ballen

to coincide with the publication of his new book

on 6 December 2020

11am to 2pm

A selection of images from the artist’s series Roger the Rat will be exhibited until February 2021. The opening event, to coincide with the First Sundays gatherings at Victoria Yards, will include a launch of the book published by Hatje Cantz (Germany) and distributed by Jonathan Ball in South Africa.

ABOUT ROGER THE RAT

Released in the Year of the Rat, the photographic series and book Roger the Rat is surreal, refined and disturbing. Roger Ballen has made a name for himself with his special eye for what is usually considered minor or outside, yet is nevertheless profound and touching. In his hands, the documentary power of the camera merges with the ingenious power of his imagination to peer into the soul and get under the viewer’s skin. Elaborately produced between 2015 and 2020, his new project is fresh and, amazingly, alive with pop art elements

In impressive, sharp black-and-white shots, he follows the life of a creature whose body appears human, but who has the head of a rat. We witness absurd scenes that, deconstructed and wrested from everyday gestures, reveal the suppressed aspects of human existence.

ABOUT ROGER BALLEN

Born in New York City and living in South Africa since 1982, Roger is one of the most important and original art photographers working today. He is best known for his probing, often challenging images that exist in a space between painting, drawing, installation, and photography. His universally recognised style is now commonly referred to as a ‘Ballenesque’.

FRINGE | ELEVEN ELEVEN | FINE ART EDITION PRINT | 110cm x 70cm – release date 11/11/2020

FRINGE | IS ART REALLY ANYTHING YOU CAN GET AWAY WITH? | FINE ART EDITION PRINT | 110cm x 70cm – release date 15/10/2020

FRINGE | THE BIG APPLE | FINE ART EDITION PRINT | 110cm x 70cm – release date 15/09/2020

FRINGE | PLAYTIME | FINE ART PRINT | 100CM X 70CM | GOLD LEAF embellished – release date 15\08\2020

FRINGE | BELIEVING | FINE ART EDITION PRINT | 110cm x 70cm – release date 15/07/2020

FRINGE | REDACTION | FINE ART EDITION PRINT | 110cm x 70cm – Release date 15/06/2020

FRINGE FACSIMILES

A Year in the Life of Fringe

From the mind of the artist known simply as Fringe, South Africa’s undisputed King of Pop, comes a new series of prints about the power and powerlessness of words. FACSIMILES are, by definition, ‘exact copies of written or printed material,’ and these the artist presents as messages from a place of personal introspection.

In FRINGE FACSIMILES, the artist presents one print a month over the period June 2020 to June 2021. The series is a long-running narrative, of subversive quotes from questionable and questioning sources.

The new print series performs as a facsimile of messages, taking us back to a time before the social media, namely, the time of the old fashioned fax, and driving us forward with cryptic clues, to the present day.

#1 REDACTION

REDACTION IS THE ONLY WAY OF MAKING THE UNTHINKABLE THINKABLE… FREE THINKING RULES

This full colour print is the first in the series and introduces the idea that ‘Words are Deeds’, the famous quote by philosopher Wittgenstein that encourages us to think before we talk. Here, Fringe the artist takes on the barriers to free speech and brings a protest message into his Pop Art, with a funny mixture of irony and satire.

# 2 BELIEVING

IF SEEING IS BELIEVING THEN OPEN YOUR FUCKING EYES THE WORLD NEEDS LOOKERS MORE THAN IT NEEDS SEERS

This full colour print is the second in the series and rips into blue-sky idealists. It shatters dreams, yet delivers its hard-edged message without being too bleak. It muses on our electrifying present moment, a time in which people are being torn apart, and are coming together as friends and adversaries in dramatic displays of anger and revolt. It’s a colourful appeal for rational thought.

# 3 PLAYTIME

For the third in his series of colour prints, to be rolled out monthly over a year, Fringe magnifies the fabulous message of Pop, while scaling back on text.

The over-handled toy, that has found its way into the most recent works, is a vestige of youth. It’s a symbol of a babyhood well-spent, a signal that the child is about to take its next step.

Like most abandoned toys it lies in the corner, waiting to be recycled or dumped. The artist reflects on this fragment of lost innocence, while asserting that it is the Pop artist himself who must evolve, to carry on with his task. It’s a time for joyful pastimes, and new objects – to hit the accelerator, and play.

This is a real note to self.

#4 THE BIG APPLE

Print No. 4 in the Fringe Facsimile series is released on September 11 and is a direct reference to The Big Apple. By shifting focus to New York and American corporate culture, on this symbolic day, Fringe investigates whether the golden ratio, or the divine proportion as it’s called, continues to deliver on our artistic and cultural dreams. The equations add a fun, but cryptic, element of inquiry: in order to succeed would you bring an apple for teacher, to school?

#5 IS ART REALLY ANYTHING YOU CAN GET AWAY WITH?

#7 MEIN EYGENE OIGEN

As FRINGE’s year long project (one print a month) rolls out, a couple of things have become apparent: 1. Texts are heavily influenced by the social media. 2. The works obsess about the present, a big preoccupation in Pop Art.

FRINGE’s forms take their cue from graffiti and graphic art. Each print functions as a pop poster with a message. And now he turns his eye to the eye chart. Or the chart of the mind’s eye to be exact.

Collectively, we may have seen the catastrophic year ahead coming. But we chose to respond in so many different ways, to make the crisis visible, that we pulled in opposite directions.

As 2020 draws to a close we remember how it screwed us. The new artwork makes reference to the small print. Like a contract we signed unwittingly, we are now bound by sinister little clauses we cannot escape from.

But if you look real close you will see how art can take away the blind spots.

#8 AUTHORITY VS VELOCITY

FRINGE’s latest full colour print is yet another milestone in his year long project of offering a single editioned work every month, as a journey of the heart.

His latest print, titled Authority vs Velocity, is a twisted portrait of a Stormtrooper, decorated with Damien Hirst’s polka dots. It references a 2.2 metre mixed media earlier work, about the obtrusive and seductive pull of power.

In this anarchic, but propagandist image, from the global popular culture, we are asked to pay lip service to the Sovereign (Queen Elizabeth II), whose ancient currency still rules the waves.

January is the month of renewal — but in the common human experience it is also one of recommitment to established values. And a return to the old life.

The print text questions the difference between ‘remember’ and ‘recall’. The overall tone of nostalgia is enhanced by the use of gold leaf, reminding us of past masterpiece; and paying homage to one of Fringe’s idols, Gustav Klimt, with his iconic work Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer.

ART AGAINST COVID-19

A digital exhibition in support of the people of Alex

To receive this catalogue on what’s app please send a message on WhatsApp to 0824129210

The Daville Baillie Gallery, at Victoria Yards in Johannesburg, is acutely aware of the dangers to the aged and disabled in Alexandra Township, in the present time of covid19.

In response we, and our devoted artists, are donating 50% of the proceeds of sales to the Alexandra Society for the Care and Welfare of the Aged and Disabled Persons. The renowned society – founded by Linda Twala, known as the ‘Father of Alex’ – is a cornerstone of the community, distributing vital aid to the needy.

Joining us in this campaign is our partner National Pride based in Soweto, a South African manufacturer and distributor of surgical masks and diapers, and other health and sanitary products. Ours is a developing support system that we are confident will benefit the aged and disabled, and their caregivers. These are people who may not be able to travel to commercial centers due to the present lockdown, health issues and financial constraints.

We at the Daville Baillie Gallery, with our artists and partners, are hugely concerned for the wellbeing of the aged and disabled communities in Alexandra township. We are hoping that by making these essential products available, we will alleviate burdens while acknowledging our shared destinies, in this time and in future. We will be exploring the possibility of taking this project forward, beyond the Covid-10 era.

We invite you to join us in ensuring the success of this important endeavour.

PROFILE OF NATIONAL PRIDE

National Pride (Pty) Ltd. is a proudly South African personal care business. A manufacturer of baby and adult diapers, as well as sanitary products, the company supplies both the local and export markets. The National Pride product stable includes the Baby Panda, Absorbers, Baby Time and Simply Dry brands.

DAVILLE BAILLIE GALLERY CONTRIBUTING ARTISTS

FRINGE | Gift Msane | Jimmy Law | Nomvula Hoko | Luzuko Dayile | Nicolene Joffe | Andrew Ntshabele | Mfundo Mthiyane | Gerhard Buckholz | Xana Abreu | Steve Maphoso | Dumile Feni | Nep- | Auguste | Ari Hersch | Jason Bronkhorst | Joe Suzuki | Zolile Phetsane | Leila Batha | Solomon Mugutso Thabiso Dakamela.

The Daville Baillie Gallery

Daville Baillie Gallery

presents

NO SERIOUSLY

An extraordinary contemporary art experience by FRINGE, South Africa’s undisputed King of Pop

1 MARCH TO 2 APRIL 2020

We are pleased to announce that FRINGE’s new exhibition NO SERIOUSLY will happen in his resident gallery space in Johannesburg, the Daville Baillie Gallery in March.

South Africa is fortunate to have an artist of the ilk of FRINGE, a sly and exuberant commentator on the times in which we live.

The paintings, sculptures and prints created by FRINGE take as their beginning point the ubiquitous popular culture of a now-globalised world. The title of the show provides a clue as to the artist’s present outlook: an exploration of the tension between high art and commercial popularity.

FRINGE has a totally unique and fresh approach to comic characters and situations that people of all backgrounds, and cultures, can relate to. Mickey Mouse, Superman and Popeye are household names almost everywhere on earth. As brands they are valued in billions, and that is fair game for FRINGE.

His new works extend his major preoccupations: fame and fortune, and conspicuous consumption. Generally, the art of FRINGE takes into account the universal pop culture of aspiration and envy and turns it on its head. The clash of icons and symbols causes a resounding visual explosion that tickles the senses and leaves one reeling with delight.

NO SERIOUSLY will further the artist’s individualistic approach to exhibition, at Johannesburg’s acclaimed Victoria Yards art development. It will present a multi-layered, sensory experience intended to provoke and amuse.

The artworks of FRINGE have undergone a remarkable journey given that the artist is anonymous. The present collection bears testimony to his phenomenal rise as an enigmatic figure on the South African art landscape.

Interview with FRINGE

FEBRUARY 2020

What have you been doing since your last show?

Experimenting with notions of horror and humor, and thinking about what makes for good composition. Spending some time with my dealer from Europe just to kind of get the feel for the market there, like in Germany where things have gone quite well. We had two exhibitions in a great big schloss, it’s a public venue with the ability to host private exhibitions also.

But on a more serious note, I’ve been like in between issues in my life. On the one hand the drive to be an artist comes completely naturally to me, but on the other hand it sometimes feels like a wart that’s stuck on me somehow, that I need to get off.

I suppose that is why I went for the anonymity thing in the first place because I don’t really know if I’m cut out to be a major player in the art world as it is.

Well, what is it that puts you off? Have your reasons for being anonymous stayed consistent throughout the last five years that you’ve been producing work under this pseudonym?

Obviously, this way I don’t have to make any overtly personal or political statements.  Although there are some who say that all art is overtly personal and political. But in Jo’burg it all becomes very personal and that is something I am happy to stay away from: the social media and the need to talk about my work endlessly. That is what my gallery, the Daville Baillie Gallery is there for. I have the privilege of being able to just close myself off and dream up these epic paintings and sculptures. Sometimes I feel like the mad professor…

Let’s talk about what that is, these days, as you prepare for your third solo exhibition titled NO SERIOIUSLY.

Paintings about the size of a bedroom window. The proportion is very important to me because I do see my work in a domestic setting. I’m aware that they play with the decorative element of pop art but I also want them to be unsettling in a way that you can’t pin down. I want my pictures to remind you that you are alive, here and now, in the early 21^stCentury that is really still recovering from the 20^thCentury.

How does that work? Is it because what you’re doing is showing us the icons of our youth?

No, not only that. Yes, and that of course. But I have a feeling that this whole comic world seems to come across as something true to us because we are brought up with it from such a young age. And it is so much a part of our concentration and distraction as young people that we take it as a kind of basic truth. We just believe in the power of popular culture and we buy into it without asking questions about it. But at the same time it lies on the floor and gets trampled on in newspapers and comics. I like it when it gets elevated to a higher form of art – and that’s why I think I fit in with the Daville Baillie Gallery that has this iconography going on from artists all over the world.

And is that why the show is called NO SERIOUSLY?

Yes, for sure. It’s called NO SERIOUSLY because I am able to take all these heroes and anti-heroes that we don’t take very seriously and put them on the walls, framing them in the context of a more serious art.

BIOGRAPHY OF FRINGE

Born in 1976 in Johannesburg, South Africa, the artist who goes by the pseudonym Fringe was educated in the Natal Midlands. Thereafter he studied design in Cape Town.

After plying his trade with various agencies, in 2003 he shifted his focus to art production, experimenting with notions of objectivity and subjectivity within the confines of the gallery space.

In 2015, after more than a decade of success in advertising, Fringe moved to New York to absorb an alternate train of thought. With a newfound understanding of the importance of communication through street art, in 2016 he returned to South Africa to begin creating unique artworks based on pop symbols, advertising campaigns and graffiti techniques.

The year 2017 was a breakthrough for Fringe. In April he held his first solo exhibition at the Daville Baillie Gallery in Norwood, Johannesburg. And he began to gain wider recognition beyond South Africa and, with the support of an agent in Luxembourg he found an international base. His work has begun to sell in London and Amsterdam.

In September 2017 an artwork by Fringe was sold in London on an auction to benefit the African Ukuthemba Foundation. The work was auctioned by the Irish celebrity Graham Norton, and in the process the art of Fringe received extensive exposure abroad.

In 2018 he held a sold-out Solo exhibition with Desom Wine Estate in Luxembourg to commemorate the 70th anniversary of Porsche.

Fringe held his second, sold out solo exhibition, titled Don’t Blink, at the Daville Baillie Gallery at Victoria Yards in Johannesburg, in September 2018.

In October 2019 Fringe held a solo exhibition at the prestigious Schloss Monaise in Trier, Germany and a second artwork was auctioned in London and sold for a record high.

Bram Reijnders, Thrill of Life, mixed media, 2019