Zavick & Ulric's washline fire burns brightly - South African Art Times

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Page 2 South African Art Times. December 08 - January 09 The South African Art Times Dec 08 - Jan 09 www.arttimes.co.za Published monthly by Global Art Information PO Box 15881 Vlaeberg, 8018 Tel. 021 424 7733 Fax. 021 424 7732 Editor: Gabriel Clark-Brown editor@arttimes.co.za Advertising: Eugene Fisher art@arttimes.co.za Subscriptions: Bastienne Klein subs@arttimes.co.za News: press@arttimes.co.za Shows: show@arttimes.co.za Artwork: art@arttimes.co.za Layout: endlessseanewyearsday Deadlines for news, articles and advertising is the 20th of each month. The Art Times is published in the last week of each month. Newspaper rights: The newspaper reserves the right to reject any material that could be found offensive by its readers. Opinions and views expressed in the SA Art Times do not necessarily represent the official viewpoint of the editor, staff or publisher, while inclusion of advertising features does not imply the newspaper’s endorsement of any business, product or service. Copyright of the enclosed material in this publication is reserved. Stefano Unterthiner Troublemaker Animal Portraits - Winner 2008 Wildlife Photographer of the Year owned by The Natural History Museum , London, UK. To be seen, with other amaizing images at The SA National Gallery. see www.iziko.org.za for deails This category - one of the most popular in the competition - invites portraits that capture the character or spirit of an animal in an original and memorable way. The home of Sulawesi blackcrested macaques is the forest, and that was where the group that Stefano followed for weeks spent most of its time, in Tangkoko National Park in the north of the island. But when the macaques’ search for food took them to the coastal edge of the forest, they ventured along the beach to scour the rocks for fallen fruits and nuts or, in the case of the young ones, to paddle in the waves. This young adult, nicknamed Troublemaker, was more interested in Stefano. So getting a close-up wasn’t difficult. Handling Troublemaker’s mischief, though, proved more of a challenge. ‘He would leap at me and kick off my back like a trampoline,’ says Stefano. ‘It was part play, part confrontation, part attention-seeking, part curiosity.’ Trouble-maker’s expression captures, Stefano says, ‘the spirit of these wonderful monkeys’, and the setting makes it an unforgettable portrait. © Stefano Unterthiner / Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2008 The South African Art Information Directory 09 The trusted and most comprehensive SA Art Information Directory 2009 (SAAID 09) is nearing completion, and will be available early in 2009. Now in its 6th edition The SAAID 09 provides the user with a wealth of art information - both in terms of size and access into the South African arts community- and is South Africa’s white and yellow pages of the South African art world. Advertising from R 200 - R 3000 See www.saaid.co.za for more details Caitlin Ross Artists do battle (again) with the Moustache Gallery Artists Nico Eilers and Gavin du Plessis are not charmed by Laurens Barnard of the Moustache Gallery Questions over the running of the Moustache Gallery in Stellenbosch have again been raised after a painting by local artist Gavin du Plessis was found damaged and discarded on the side of a farm road in October. The damaged painting, a 92cm x 92cm oil on canvas titled Cape Town ’73, is a hyper-realist work which formed part of du Plessis’s first solo series in 1973. It was found by a farm labourer at the Nooitgedacht Estate who noticed it had a price tag and the artist’s name on the back. Estate chef Maryke Reuvers said she managed to track du Plessis down by Googling his name. Du Plessis said he was alarmed when he got the news, as he had been told by Moustache Gallery owner Laurens Barnard that his painting had been “packaged and sent to a buyer in Germany”. “I was not aware that Stellenbosch was in the Bundesrepubliek,” said du Plessis. He said he had been paid the agreed-upon sum of R15 000 by Barnard, but nonetheless felt “shocked, insulted and hugely disappointed”. Barnard has paid him for the painting but he nonetheless made out an affidavit stating: “As far back as November 2007 Mr. Laurens Barnard, owner of Moustache Gallery, informed me he had packed and sent off the artwork to a ‘buyer in Germany’.” Barnard said that he was awaiting confirmation of payment from the German buyer and that this is the first he’d heard of the painting being missing. He said some paintings that he had been storing in his house in Somerset West were transported to a storeroom on the same road as the one on which du Plessis’s work was discovered. “It could be that it fell off…maybe it was stolen.” Capt. JF Brits, in charge of the investigation, said he has been on leave and has thus not had time to get started on the case. But du Plessis is not the only artist involved with the gallery who is “mystified” by missing works or money, an issue that was reported on by the SA Art Times in June 2008. Durban-based artist Julia Forman said at Barnard’s request she had sent two acrylic paintings to an auction in 2006. Barnard allegedly contacted her immediately after the auction to inform her that one piece was sold for R2 500 and the other would be sent back to her. “There was a point when I did get hold of him, and it seemed he was under pressure from a number of artists because he was committed to returning the work,” said Forman. But she said subsequent attempts to get both her painting and money from Barnard have been unsuccessful. Painter and multi-media sculptor Nico Eilers said after the same auction he had to threaten Barnard with legal action before Barnard agreed to a meeting at the gallery, at which, Eilers said, he failed to arrive. He said a woman at the gallery handed him some of his works, but one of his sculptures was still missing. Barnard evaded directly answering questions on the missing works, saying only that “most” of his artists have been paid and that he has “done a lot more for artists in this country than other people, putting their work in my gallery”. “Lots of people owe me money but you don’t see me running to the papers,” he said.
South African Art Times. December 08 - January 09 Page 3 Media24 back off from defamation Staff writer In another David and Goliath court case, Media24 appear to have bitten off more than they’d like to chew when they attempted to sue Cape Town photographer and copyright fundi Geof Kirby for defamation after he questioned the legality of their freelance contracts. But in a turnaround, rather than breathing a sigh of relief at the withdrawal, Kirby would like to haul them back to court to face up to their syndication activities, which Kirby believes have been illegally carried out with no recompense to freelancers, for at least two decades. It seems Media24 unwittingly sprung their own trap when, following an email to colleagues within a closed e-group expressing this opinion, they served him with a letter demanding a retraction within 24 hours or face a R100 000 defamation suite. But Kirby, incensed at the contracts Media24 expected freelancers to sign, as well as by their “bullying tactics”, refused to back down. He said Media24 were using their contracts to legitimise their foreign syndication practices, which he said he “believed” were illegal in terms of existing legislation, which includes the South African Copyright law (1978) with amendments, and the Berne Convention, to which South Africa is a signatory. On the cover of their contracts Media24 state that their agreement claim against photographer is merely a restatement of the law itself, something which Kirby said is “disingenuous”. “In fact it’s actually an attempt at deceit, especially in light of Media24’s past behaviour in trying to enforce rights they didn’t have.” In section six of their agreement they state the freelancer has to hand over all intellectual property rights and their moral rights (i.e. the right to be identified as the author and not to have their work mutilated in any way) to Media24. Furthermore, the section indemnifies Media24 from “any claim made against it that the use of the work infringes any copyright or other Intellectual Property rights held by a third party and against any loss incurred by Media24 pursuant to such a claim”. This effectively makes the freelancer assume the responsibilities of a publisher, said Kirby, as should the publisher be sued for publishing an image, the freelancer would have to pay the costs. The main reason Media24 want to grab all these rights, he said, is so that they can syndicate the work on their business-to-business syndication arm, Images24, without having to pay the author of the work a cent. Their foreign syndication, he says, goes back to the ‘80s. After refusing to retract, a summons for defamation of character - in Afrikaans, was delivered to his door. He said he sent it back politely asking for an English translation. Media24 responded by saying he would suffer a default judgement if he didn’t deal with it in seven working days. Kirby then found a lawyer and started preparing his defence. He said he has found three legal opinions which argue that Media24’s foreign syndication violated South African copyright and the Berne Convention. And, he said, whether or not corporations can sue for defamation is an unanswered legal question in this country. (The well-known SAB vs. Laugh it Off case involved infringement of trademark) After two “false starts” in court, Media24 withdrew the case subject to both sides bearing their own costs. He said he does not know why they withdrew, but suspects that his requests for contracts pertaining to photographers whose work he knew had been syndicated abroad indicated the background knowledge he had, and put them on the run. However, Kirby has refused to bear his own costs as he says doing so would effectively penalize him for a case which never went through court, and has filed affidavits compelling Media24 to meet his costs on a taxed basis. Responding to emailed questions, Media24 communications head Lutfia Vayej said: “Media24 has al- ways acted in good faith to protect its good name and reputation and in the Geof Kirby matter Media24 acted within its rights. Media24 confirms that for operational reasons and for good relations with photographers generally, the matter was withdrawn.” In response to questions posed over the validity of their contracts in relation to South African copyright law and the Berne Convention, Vayej said copyright was a “complex area of law” that was subject to “a very high level of specialization”. “We therefore do not wish to express a legal opinion without taking specialized advice.” The final settlement date of the case is at this stage unknown. Subscribe to the South African Art Times R 180 pa to your door www.arttimes.co.za subs@arttimes.co.za Tel 021 424 7733 KUNSGALERY JOHANS BORMAN FINE ART GALLERY CAPE TOWN Maggie Laubser ‘Boy playing guitar’ 1956 A showcase for the best of South African Masters, as well as some leading contemporary artists. Telephone: 021 423 6075 www.johansborman.co.za Mon-Fri: 10h00 - 18h00 Sat: 09h00 - 14h00 or by appointment In Fin Art Building Upper Buitengracht Street, Cape Town 8001 Cell: 082 566 4631 E-mail: art@johansborman.co.za
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Zavick & Ulric's washline fire burns brightly - South African Art Times

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