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APRIL WALLACE NWA Democrat-Gazette L ast weekend 21c Museum Hotel Bentonville welcomed two new exhibitions, making it the first gallery transformation since the pandemic began. Wim Botha's "Still Life with Discontent" and "Truth or Dare: A Reality Show" will be on display through December. On Jan. 22, patrons gathered in the event hall, seated six feet apart, as they listened to South African artist Wim Botha discuss the making of his works via a Zoom call with the museum curator. Botha's pieces are a variety of sculpture, portrait busts and oil paintings that have underlying traditional influences, but closer inspection reveals the turmoil of modern life. "It feels really good to have all new work," says Alice Gray Stites, chief curator and museum director. "Botha's work is powerful, and people are responding thoughtfully to having it here." Botha has exhibited all over the world, such as the 55th Biennale (Venice), the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown (South Africa) and Galerie Hans Mayer (Germany). He earned the prestigious Helgaard Steyn prize and the Standard Bank Young Artist award, among others. "Still Life with Discontent" was shown first at 21c Durham and 21c Louisville. Its last stop is Bentonville. Botha says the name of the collection has to do with the influence of the world as it is right now. "I try to apply an emotional register that's congruent with our time, with events or the psychological background of our time," he says. "The emotional register provides a framework from which to see it. I'm not a very negative person myself, but the world that we live in can seem tragic in terms of our approach to things." Stites says that seems particularly prescient now, given a period of ongoing uncertainty and a heightened awareness of our vulnerability as human beings. Botha's artworks challenge the meaning of power through iconography by rooting them in mythology, but they are open for different interpretations through the way they are laid out, which she says responds to the destabilization of current times. "[Botha's] work is so visceral and makes me feel very alive when thinking and looking at the work," Stites says. "It turns into a kind of energy." Many of the scenes Botha bases his works on are dark, but life affirming, he says. "As humans, discontent is a constant; we complain and find things to be unhappy about but discontent can be an extraordinary, powerful agent for change," Botha says. "It's a very positive aspect. "Prism 10," the piece that dominates the 21c lobby, is a cast bronze sculpture, a dark silhouette of a few figures that allude to human form, some with wings. The heads and arms are indecipherable. This piece is a part of a series of Botha's works made with a technique he developed for spontaneous mark making. During his process he carved with chainsaws and hot wires for a unique form that Botha says alludes to changeability, being of an indefinite form and infinite potential. "Prism 10" was inspired in part by the story of the Trojan horse, the enormous wooden horse created as a mysterious gift. Once wheeled into the city of Troy, it allowed the Greek JANUARY 30-FEBRUARY 5, 2022 WHAT'S UP! 5 FAQ Wim Botha: Still Life with Discontent and Truth or Dare: A Reality Show WHEN — Through December WHERE — 21c Museum Hotel, 200 N.E. A St. in Bentonville COST — Free INFO — 286-6500; 21cmuseum- hotels.com See 21C Page 6 Dark, But Life Affirming Artist considers discontent as agent for change "A Thousand Things Part 190" was created by Wim Botha in 2014 of treated wood and black ink. (Courtesy Photo/Collection of Laura Lee Brown and Steve Wilson, 21c Museum Hotels) BENTONVILLE