Spanierman Modern is pleased to announce the opening on May 3, 2007 of Uniform: South Africa’s New Clothes. Curated by the Miami-based, Cape Town-born curator Claire Breukel, this exhibition consists of photographs by Pieter Badenhorst, Bridget Baker, Lien Botha, Franci Cronje, Donovan Ward, Dale Yudelman, and the renowned Johannesburg-based photographer Santu Mofokeng, that reveal qualities of life and the nature of human relationships in the country after it celebrated its first decade of democracy. Included are photographs of people from different ends of the socio-economic spectrum, wearing either actual uniforms or clothing indicative of status and position, as well as landscapes, that characterize a country experiencing re-formation at all levels of culture and awareness.

Since the official fall of Apartheid in 1994 and the election of Nelson Mandela, South Africa went through a decade of change and a redefinition of its identity, resulting in new protocols for the ways that people from the country’s widely divergent population should, or should not, interact. “Like trying on a suit for the first time, South Africa is now in a stage of wearing in a new persona,” says Breukel. “With this awareness, the artists in this show explore what it means to wear a ‘uniform,’ whether this is literally a dress code, or whether it metaphorically implies an identification with a unified state.” The photographs reflect the artists’ own experiences within this complex and unique environment, conveying personal rather than particular political or satirizing viewpoints.

All seven artists have been living and working in South Africa for the past twenty years. Born in Port Elizabeth, Pieter Badenhorst relocated to Cape Town in 1999, where he has become known for his precise and revealing photographs. Among his contributions to the exhibition are his depictions of gas stations, shown as static and constant landmarks on the South African landscape. Bridget Baker was born in East London, studied art in Cape Town, and has widely exhibited her photographs throughout South Africa and Europe. She used her film background to create the large sets for Blue Collar Girl, in which scenes indigenous to “African” living are acted out. Known as a “straight shooter,” Lien Botha was born in South Africa’s capital, Pretoria, completed her BAFA in Cape Town, and has since exhibited in numerous exhibitions around the world. In 2006 she participated in the Ampersand residency in New York. Botha uses inconography typical of the South African landscape, affording this imagery great sensitivity revealing both satire and beauty. Franci Cronje lives and works in Pretoria. She has worked widely in film, video, and photography. Influenced by her travels to Finland, Cronje produced The All-Encompassing Politics of Leaving, comparing life in Finland to that in South Africa. Johannesburg-born Santu Mofokeng is known as one of the leaders of South African photography. His deeply ironic content is reflected in his “Billboard series,” in which he juxtaposes real life with idealized advertising constructs of Black identity. Similarly, Donovan Ward, who was born and lives in Cape Town, combines Apartheid-era imagery with American cartoon icons. In the “Erased House” series, he alludes to homes lost, directly referencing laws that were passed preventing Black, Indian, and Coloured people from living in designated areas. This is Ward’s first exhibition in the United States. A native of Johannesburg, Dale Yudelman began his career as a staff photographer at South Africa’s largest daily newspaper The Star and subsequently worked in London and Los Angeles before returning to South Africa in 1996. Since settling in Cape Town in that year, he has created multi-media images addressing a wide range of social issues. He is represented in this exhibition by photographs in which he uses Photoshop to manipulate his images, creating paradoxical scenarios that play with social juxtaposition and stereotype.

With this exhibition, Spanierman Modern is delighted to feature both its first show devoted exclusively to photography and its first to work by South African artists, providing a window into a culture amid a fascinating period of reorientation.