From 14 March till 14 May 2010, The Spier Contemporary 2010 will be one of Cape Town’s biggest temporary attractions. It will effectively reposition the space as a cultural venue . Running concurrently is The Fringe Arts and Design Pop Up Store. The brainchild of Chantal Louw and Thessa Bos, the store features artworks by Spier finalists and winners in addition to other established names, exquisite ‘bread and butter’ ranges by artists, designers and illustrators and Warren Editions prints.
Apart from stocking art and design products of people they admire, Chantal and Thessa have created a range of products in collaboration with established artists, starting with The Fringe Arts sling bag. These are once-off designs, which the pair then printed on sling bags. The bags are in an edition of 100 and are priced at R100. Artists include Brett Murray, Bridget Baker, James Webb, Linda Stupart, Liza Grobler and Sanell Aggenbach.
Participating designers at the shop include furniture re-inventors Vamp and Recreate, jewellery designers Lady Peculiar and Philippa Green and surface designer Skinny Laminx. In addition, the store features bread and butter ranges from fine artists such as Sanell Aggenbach and Karin Miller.
Art available at The Fringe includes work by Spier Contemporary 2010-winners Araminta de Clermont, Dave Robertson and Christopher Swift, work of other finalists, as well as, amongst others, Robert Hodgins, Brett Murray, Dale Yudelman, David Goldblatt and Guy Tillim,
The Fringe can be found at Cape Town City Hall, first floor right, and is open every day from 10 to 6. Join its Facebook page, to receive regular updates on artists and designers featured at The Fringe.
The Fringe Arts is owned and run by Chantal Louw and Thessa Bos.
Chantal is an art historian and gallerist while Thessa, a journalist by training, was previously the commercial and cultural officer of the Netherlands Consulate General in Cape Town. She is the Western Cape representative for Business and Arts South Africa.
