William Kentridge
Universal Archive and Journey to the Moon
October 27, 2917–February 17, 2018
Reception: October 27, 5–7pm
UNIVERSAL ARCHIVE (2011). For this project, contemporary South African artist William Kentridge presents a series of linocut prints—of coffee pots, typewriters, cats, trees, nudes—printed on dictionary pages. The images show a gradual transformation from a recognizable form to one that resembles calligraphic brush strokes. The progression from the familiar to the abstract suggests the creative process, with all its unexpected and unplanned developments. Such chance developments run contrary to notions of reason and rational thought, suggested by the authoritative-looking text of the dictionary pages on which the images are printed, and raise skepticism about certainty, the creative process, and knowledge construction.
JOURNEY TO THE MOON (2003) is a stop-action/animated film that focuses on Kentridge's studio work in a "post-anti-apartheid" world. In Journey to the Moon, which alludes to Georges Méliès classic Voyage dans la Lune (1902), Kentridge contemplates the future of his work in South Africa along the lines of a journey within his own studio. Journey to the Moon will be projected continuously in the gallery next to Universal Archive.
William Kentridge: Universal Archive is organized for tour by the Gund Gallery at Kenyon College and is made possible, in part, by contributions from Alva Greenberg ’74, the Gund Gallery Board of Directors and Ohio Arts Council.
Journey to the Moon is provided courtesy of Marian Goodman Gallery, New York/London.
Universal Archive: 12 Coffee Pots
Linocut on page from Shorter Oxford Dictionary
