The 3rd Cape Town Public Sculpture Competition 2002 

22 August 2002  By Andries Loots

The J.K. GROSS TRUST in collaboration with the ASSOCIATION FOR VISUAL ARTS, 35 CHURCH STREET, CAPE TOWN, launched its 3rd Public sculpture competition for the City of Cape Town on the 20th August 2002.

The opening of the Exhibition of maquettes

Three finalists were announced. 

They are KEVIN BRAND, KATHERINE BULL and FRITHA LANGERMAN jointly for their collaborative piece, and PAUL EDMUNDS. All are professional Cape Town artists who have exhibited extensively and are well respected in their various disciplines. BRAND, BULL and LANGERMAN lecture in various tertiary art institutions in Cape Town, while EDMUNDS writes for an artwebsite, as well as practicing as a full-time artist. 

In choosing from more than seventy maquette entries from around South Africa and abroad, the six judges, Alan Alborough, Rayda Becker, David Brown, Marilyn Martin, Melvyn Minnaar and Zwelethu Mthethwa, identified three finalists who, after meeting with the judges, will be asked to make a further, more detailed presentation of their sculpture for the site on the corner of St George’s Mall and Shortmarket Street in the city center. This will take place within the next few months, after which a winner will be chosen. Through interaction between the artists and the judges, dialogue around issues of public art will encourages visual literacy, making art more accessible to the public and emphasizing the very relevant contribution that public art can make to the life of a city and its peoples.

The winning artist is then given twelve months in which to create and install the winning sculpture. 

Interest in this competition has grown over the years since the first that took place in 1992 followed by the second in 1998 as can be seen by the increased number of maquettes received and by the diverse cities in South Africa from which they come. 

All the maquettes are on exhibit at AVA from 20 August until Friday, 30 August 2002.

Gallery Hours : Weekdays 10h00 to 17h00
Saturday 10h00 to 13h00

Website : www.ava.co.za