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met with Mark Coetzee in Cape Town, South Africa in February of 1998. He was at
once as excited about our project as we were with his art and his gallery space. Mark
has strong beliefs in art and creative expression and often fights hard to keep
controversial shows hanging, open to the public. Unlike many of his curatorial
peers, Mark uses the sales of his own art to pay for the exhibitions of other
South African artists. He travels extensively knocking on warehouse doors and
scouring the countryside always looking for a new or overlooked talent. No one
is out of the accessible reach of a gallery showing. "
The Art School education one gets here is very Eurocentric. One spends, possibly
a few weeks on the whole history of African Art, you don't go beyond that, you
don't discuss contemporary African artists. One spends very little time even discussing
contemporary South African art. " -Mark
Coetzee
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