Prefab for Africa

The Black Heart Gang’s Tale Of How animation

The Black Heart Gang are a group of South African artists who have created a fantastic hand drawn animation, visually inspired by eastern art. The Tale of How is a story about a giant octupus whose desire is to consume every dodo resembling bird there is in sight, until Eddy the Engineer — a little white mouse — saves the day.

South Africa’s The Artists’ Press

When I found my way to the Artists’ Press last year, there was a forest fire raging dangerously close to this sleek, yet casual studio tucked in the rolling hills of Mpumalanga, South Africa. Despite flames visible just a few miles away, the charming Mark and Tamar calmly showed me around their space, where they just happened to be doing a special print commission for William Kentridge, an impossibly complicated replica of torn layers and ink washes. As we moved from table to table, drawer to drawer, Tamar pulled out endless treasures — prints and artist’s proofs from the likes of Claudette Schreuders and Dumisani Mabaso, as well as the incredible emerging artists that the Artists’ Press represents — that I began to run out of new ways to ‘oooh’ and ‘ahhh’ over the works they shared. Read more

Leah Beeferman

Brooklyn-based artist Leah Beeferman draws inspiration from architecture, maps, and mechanical diagrams for her geometric, almost-non-representational drawings. Her images seem ancient and timeless, hinting at traditional Asian scroll paintings, folk art, and cave paintings. Yet through her installations and projections, they cast new light on the contemporary spaces in which they exist. Read more

South Africa’s The Artists’ Press

When I found my way to the Artists’ Press last year, there was a forest fire raging dangerously close to this sleek, yet casual studio tucked in the rolling hills of Mpumalanga, South Africa. Despite flames visible just a few miles away, the charming Mark and Tamar calmly showed me around their space, where they just happened to be doing a special print commission for William Kentridge, an impossibly complicated replica of torn layers and ink washes. As we moved from table to table, drawer to drawer, Tamar pulled out endless treasures — prints and artist’s proofs from the likes of Claudette Schreuders and Dumisani Mabaso, as well as the incredible emerging artists that the Artists’ Press represents — that I began to run out of new ways to ‘oooh’ and ‘ahhh’ over the works they shared. Read more

Robin Rhode

There’s a lot I could say about South African artist Robin Rhode.  But to simply say that he’s endlessly cool pretty much sums it up. In fact, he’s so cool that Nike’s been accused of ripping off one of his pieces for a television ad (can you say plagiarism: just don’t do it?) Read more

Esopus Magazine

Esopus only hits newsstands twice a year, but take a peek inside and you’ll understand why. Read more