Dan Halter

Dan Halter (* 1977 in Harare , Zimbabwe ) is a contemporary South African artist .

Life

Dan Halter studied at the University of Cape Town and graduated in 2001 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts. He currently lives and works in South Africa . His works are exhibited internationally.

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Dan Halter's art alludes to the socio-historical situation in Africa. The complex relationships between South Africa and Zimbabwe have a major impact on Halter's work. He uses everyday materials from both countries which, as elements of African culture, are intended to refer to the African continent as a whole. With his art he would like to draw attention to the human rights problem on the continent.

In his work V for Vendetta (2014), African-looking masks have the face of Guy Fawkes .

"A row of masks, which at first glance, appears as a cliché of the wall of a Western African art collector [...] the masks were all versions Guy Fawkes masks constructed in the style of various cultures and regions on the continent. The display subverts the practice of westerners collecting pieces of non-western culture, questioning the African art collector's misconception African cultures as monolithic, primitive, and frozen in time. The masks also critique the consumption of cultural artifacts and their changing means of production - from the ceremonial to the pieces that are solely produced for the consumption of tourists and collectors. These masks have been infused with new power and meaning by means of the appropriation of Western revolutionary iconography. " (MC Stevens)

The work, which refers to political resistance, can be seen in the exhibition I prefer life in the Weserburg Museum in Bremen until the end of February 2017 .

Halter's commentary on his art: "I am an observer of the world and the things I make offer a social commentary in a somewhat ambiguous way." and "My work deals with my sense of dislocated national identity, human migration and the dark humor of present realities in Southern Africa - largely a backlash to a history of oppression that continues to this day. I use ubiquitous materials and employ local popular visual strategies as a form of expression. This often exploits the language of craft and curio in a conceptual art context. "

Exhibitions (selection)

• 2015 The Original is Unfaithful to The Translation , Whatiftheworld / Gallery, Cape Town
• 2013 DanHalter - HeartlanD, Special Project , Joburg Art Fair
• 2012 The Truth Lies Here, Whatiftheworld / Gallery, Cape Town
• 2011 Dan Halter / Mappa Del Mondo , NKV (Nassauischer Kunstverein Wiesbaden), Wiesbaden
• 2010 Double Entry, Whatiftheworld / Gallery, Cape Town
• 2008 Never say Never , Derbylius Gallery, Milan, Italy
• 2006 Take Me To Your Leader , João Ferreira Gallery, Cape Town

Web links

• Dan Halter's homepage accessed on July 19, 2016

Individual evidence

1. ↑ http://danhalter.com/text/bio/
2. ↑ http://danhalter.com/text/statement/
3. ↑ http://ensembles.mhka.be/actors/dan-halter?locale=en
4. ↑ http://www.timeslive.co.za/entertainment/2010/08/06/chat-with-artist-dan-halter
5. ↑ http://www.whatiftheworld.com/artist/dan-halter/
6. ↑ http://universes-in-universe.org/deu/bien/sesc_videobrasil/unerasable_memories/artists_artworks/dan_halter
7. ↑ http://www.arcadeprojectzine.com/art/armory-show-2016-whatiftheworld-dan-halter-by-mc-stevens/
8. ↑ http://weserburg.de/index.php?id=903
9. ↑ http://artthrob.co.za/07jul/artbio.html
10. ↑ http://danhalter.com/text/statement/
11. ↑ http://danhalter.com/text/cv/