"Dainfern" Series, 2001-2002
In 1990, after a long period of resistance by various anti-apartheid groups, the National Party’s government, which upheld the ideologies of apartheid, took the first step towards abolishing its prohibition of the African National Congress party and other leftist organizations, and liberated Nelson Mandela after 27 years of imprisonment. Apartheid legislation was gradually substituted in statutory texts, and the first multi-racial elections took place in 1994 in which the African National Congress won by a landslide.
This time of social and political change produces an inflection in Goldblatt’s work, as he begins to use color photography for what he calls his “personal work.” The result is a mix of his experience in classical, large-scale photography, combined with the latest techniques using high-resolution scanners and high-quality ink jet printing paper.
Works from the MACBA Collection are currently touring with Goldblatt’s œuvre.
INTERSECTIONS SERIES
From 1999 to 2002, Goldblatt made a number of photographic series which became part of a larger project, Johannesburg Intersections, which showcases the new residential neighborhoods constructed for South African high society in the suburbs of Johannesburg, of great contrast to the poverty in nearby residential sectors. He presents both the luxurious mansions that make up a residential complex, and the poor cardboard constructions with tin roofs that, when juxtaposed, are not only different ideas of edification, but of the political and social structure that sustain their construction.
One of Goldblatt’s series is focused on Dainfern, a luxury complex located in the outskirts of Johannesburg, situated very near the squatter’s settlement Zewenfontein. In Jonahhesburg Intersections, Goldblatt focuses his camera on the huge hotel complex Monte Casino, located in Four Ways to the North of Johannesburg. In the Monte Casino from the North (2001) series, Goldblatt unites five photos to show us a panorama of the luxury complex which recreates a Tuscan Village.
Technical details
- Original title:
- "Dainfern" Series
- Registration number:
- 2474
- Artist:
- Goldblatt, David
- Date created:
- 2001-2002
- Date acquired:
- 2004
- Fonds:
- MACBA Collection. MACBA Consortium
- Object type:
- Photograph
- Media:
- Inkjet print on cardboard
- Dimensions:
- 5 photographs: 83 x 60 cm each; 1 photograph: 60 x 83 cm (height x width x depth)
- Credits:
- MACBA Collection. MACBA Consortium. Gift of David Goldblatt
- Copyright:
- © David Goldblatt
- It has accessibility resources:
- No
The MACBA Collection features Catalan, Spanish and international art and, although it includes works from the 1920s onwards, its primary focus is on the period between the 1960s and the present.
For more information on the work or the artist, please consult MACBA's Library. To request a loan of the work, please write to colleccio [at] macba.cat.
If you need a high resolution image of the work, you must submit an image loan request.
