Location:

Steve Biko Campus Cecil Renaud Theatre 2nd floor

The Durban University of Technology Gallery is located in Durban, on the Steve Biko Campus in the Cecil Renaud Theatre above the Library. It is a space dedicated to the displaying of all visual arts. It serves as a support department for the Art and Design Departments in the Faculty of Arts. The gallery’s main objective is to educate, research and serve the art community using visual art as its primary tool.

Permanent Collection

The DUT Gallery is the University’s cultural base that is dedicated to collecting, documenting and conserving art. Since 1982 the gallery has collected current and historical art that includes ancient and modern artefacts. The university’s collection includes anonymous carvings, clay pots, beadwork, wooden and bronze sculptures, contemporary paintings, mixed media and art installations.

The collection has become a historical reference that encompasses cultural diversity whilst encouraging continuity in research, teaching and promotion of the visual arts within the student body and society at large. The collection continues to grow through donations and purchases that have relevance to current commentary.

 

Exhibitions

The gallery is also dedicated to serving and promoting practicing artists though the mounting of exhibitions. It promotes visual art through various activities that include exhibitions, seminars and networking. Exhibitions rotate regularly; these exhibitions vary from established artists, students, and community projects. An exhibitions programme is formulated annually, encompassing traveling, curated and sourced shows. Artists are invited to exhibit and proposals are evaluated in accordance with the gallery’s core aims and values.

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Gallery Hours:

8h00-16h00 Mon – Thurs
8h00-15h30 Fri

To contact us:

Francesca Verga
Curator, DUT Art Gallery
Durban University of Technology
Email: francescav@dut.ac.za
Tel: 031 373 2207

Retrospective Exhibition: The Long and Winding Road

The Durban University of Technology invites you to the opening night of Retrospective, an art exhibition by artist and Head of DUT Fine Arts Programme Anthony Starkey, which will take place at the University’s Art Gallery on Wednesday, November 13, 2013.

Starkey says the selection of works featured in this exhibition is indicative of his development as an artist and illustrates three central preoccupations of his: architecture, social commentary and representation/ abstraction.

Retrospective will be on show until Wednesday, November 20, 2013.

Exhibition Opening:

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Time:

5:30pm for 6:00pm

Venue:

DUT Art Gallery, Steve Biko Campus
1st Floor Cecil Renaud Library Complex,
51 Steve Biko Road
Durban, 4001

Exhibition Dates 13 – 20 November 2013

Gallery Hours:
Monday to Thursday 8:30am to 4:00pm
Friday 8:30am-3:00pm

Artist’s Statement

This selected body of work illustrates the three central preoccupations of my artistic development; architecture, social commentary and representation/abstraction through painting, hand-papermaking and mixed media. The presence of the human figure is implied by its absence and manifests itself in the form of the viewer.

The central concern in the use of architecture as a subject matter has been the depiction of structures as both a reflection of change and of individual lives. This was addressed through the recording and interpretation of prominent and commonplace buildings on sites such as Block AK (Greyville), the Station Workshops, the City Hall precinct, the Point, Clairwood and the Berea.

The use of social commentary is associated with an ongoing preoccupation with history, especially South African history, as a site of investigation. The use of found objects with inherent personal histories, presented in glazed drawers, alludes to the categorisation of artefacts as historical records.

The preoccupation with representation/abstraction is evident to varying degrees throughout the body of work in a number of approaches ranging from photorealism, through naturalism and partial abstraction, to full abstraction.

One of the most rewarding periods of my art practice over the years has been the collaboration with my colleague John Roome, in the production and manipulation of handmade paper. This period of collaboration resulted in a conceptual and creative dialogue that resulted in a unique body of work.

The colleagues I have worked with and the students I have taught, during my tenure as a staff member in the department of Fine Art and Jewellery Design at Durban University of Technology, have provided me with a rich and stimulating context for my creative endeavors. I am indebted to them all.

-Naledi Hlefane