The Norval Sovereign African Art Prize 2022 Benefit Auction | Hosted by Sotheby’s

Ashley Walters

Night Watch #3, Arbeidslus, Stellenbosch

Lot Closed

February 22, 05:23 PM GMT

Estimate

1,900 - 2,200 USD

Lot Details

Description

Ashley Walters

South African

b.1983

Night Watch #3, Arbeidslus, Stellenbosch

signed, numbered 1/5 and dated 2021 in pencil (on the reverse)

archival pigment ink on cotton paper

75 by 110cm., 29½ by 43¼in.

framed: 78 by 113cm., 30¾ by 44½in.

Please be aware of the Conditions of Sale when bidding. As a benefit auction, there is no buyer’s premium charged. The only additional costs due to the winning bidder are applicable sales tax and shipping. Works auctioned are sold “as is,” and condition reports are included with lot descriptions as available. In-person previews of the auction artwork will be available at Norval Foundation at 4 Steenberg Rd, Tokai, Cape Town, 7945, South Africa from 26 January – 22 February, Monday to Sundays 9 AM – 5:00 PM (Closed on Tuesdays). Please note that while this auction is hosted on Sothebys.com, it is being administered by Norval Foundation (“the museum”), and all post-sale matters (inclusive of invoicing and property pickup/shipment) will be handled by the museum. As such, Sotheby’s will share the contact details for the winning bidders with the museum so that they may be in touch directly post-sale.

This work has been kindly donated by the artist

Ashley Walters (b. 1982, South Africa) is an artist whose work protagonizes the behaviours and processes of urban life in the city and its periphery. Through experimenting with digital and analogue photographic processes, non-linear film, sculpture and drawing his work tells of an interest in the everyday and public space in its least predictable dimension.

Night Watch #3, Arbeidslus, Stellenbosch considers the complex networks of neighbourhood watch groups, consisting of social groups, including law authorities and local gangs. In recent events of the pandemic local neighbourhoods have seen a spike in crime activity due to the national level restrictions and curfew. Despite this community residents have remained active in monitoring and reporting illegal activities remotely. Wavering between absolute complicity with his subjects and distant observation, his body of work emphasizes a non-spectacular representation of reality. Whereas some scenes provide tableaus of intimate, inhabited spaces, others render non-territories that bespeak of up-rootedness, scarring, anxiety and liminality.