A few weeks ago, I put out a call on this blog for a Freedom Charter T-shirt, circa 1986. MoMA New York had requested one as backup ephemera for an upcoming exhibition of South African prints. And now, thanks to Andrew Lamprecht, an FC T-shirt has turned up! Andrew discovered that ex-SA Museum director Patricia Davison had bought two T-shirts years ago – one for the museum, and an extra. Patricia has kindly agreed to donate the extra one to MoMA and as Andrew was about to depart for New York on an Ampersand residency, he is hand couriering it to curator Judy Hecker.
I usually try to let my birthday slip past without much fanfare … it comes too soon after the Christmas/New Year round of parties for me to really feel like celebrating … but this year, under direct questioning from friends, I had to admit it was coming up. And a small supper party at the Grand Beach and Café followed. The biggest present came from Candice Breitz and her partner Alex, who came into the restaurant bearing an outsized golden S. Looked great on the table, and now it’s on the wall of my apartment.
My actual birthday I spent working on monotypes at Warren Editions. Which didn’t go too badly. And for artists, making work that doesn’t go badly is the best present of all.
