Karen von Veh

Department: Visual Art

 

Surname: von Veh

 

Name: Karen

Qualifications: MA (Wits), PHD (Rhodes)

 

Title: Associate Professor

Karen von Veh is an Associate Professor of Art History at the University of Johannesburg; she received her Master’s degree in History of Art at WITS University and her PhD from Rhodes University in Grahamstown. Thesis title: Transgressive Christian Imagery in Post-apartheid South African Art. Karen is the current president of the South African Visual Arts Historians Association (SAVAH) and has served on the SAVAH national council since 1996.  She is a member of an international Art History Association, CIHA (Comité Internationale d’Histoire de l’Art) and is also on the editorial committee for De Arte, an academic journal of Art History published by UNISA.  She has recently been voted onto the board of directors of the Arts Council of the African Studies Association (ACASA), which is based in the USA. Her publications include several articles and book chapters on contemporary South African art concentrating on both gender and religious issues.

 

Recent Publications:

 

 

2013   von Veh, K.  “Vindicating the Vilified: Majak Bredell’s celebration of lost lives.”  Roll Call. Catalogue.  pp.4-7.

 

2012 von Veh, K. “Loss and Transience in the work of Diane Victor.”  Diane Victor: Burning the Candle at Both Ends.  Johannesburg: David Krut. pp.5-78.

 

2011 von Veh, K. “Faith or expediency / religion or art?:  A consideration of Wim Botha’s  transgressive religious images.”  In F. Rankin-Smith (ed.) Figuring Faith:  Images of Faith in Africa.  Johannesburg: Fourthwall Books. pp.174-186.

 

2009 von Veh, K. “Saints and Sinners: Re-Evaluating gendered power bases entrenched  by religious imagery.” In A.A. du Preez (ed.) Taking a Hard Look: Gender and Visual Culture. Newcastle on Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. pp.47-70.

 

2009  von Veh, K. “Bck Madonnas and Other Alternatives: an investigation of the goddess tradition in Majak Bredell’s art.” Majak Bredell: 2 Exhibitions. Catalogue. pp.4-7.

 

2008    von Veh, K. ”Gothic Visions: Violence, Religion and Catharsis in Diane Victor’s  Drawings.” In Rankin, E & von Veh K. Taxi 013 Diane Victor.   Johannesburg:  David Krut Publishers. pp.50-94.

 

Journal Articles:

2012 “"Diane Victor, Tracey Rose, and the Gender Politics of Christian Imagery."     African Arts. Winter 2012.Vol.45. no.4. pp.22-33. 

 

2012 “The intersection of Christianity and Politics in South African art: a comparative analysis of selected images since 1960, with emphasis on the post-apartheid era.”

 De Arte 85.  2012. pp.5-25.

 

2012 “How to make a national resource into a global treasure: Paul Weinberg and the UCT Visual  Archives.” De Arte 85.  2012. pp.73-79.

 

2010 “A New Curator for an Old Collection: Karen von Veh talks to Bongani Mkhonza”    De Arte  81. 2010. pp.57-65.

 

2009 “ Interdisciplinary Teaching: Can one size really fit all?”    Image and Text. No.15. 2009.   pp.54-65.

 

2009  “The MTN Art Collection: Is a ‘working collection’ a good investment?” De Arte   79, September 2009, pp. 41-48.

 

Recent Conference Papers:

2012 “Post-apartheid masculinity reviewed through the lens of Christian iconography: the work of Conrad Botes and Lawrence Lemaoana.” A paper presented atWork/Force: South African Masculinities in the Media. Held at Stellenbosch University. 13-14 September 2012.

 

2012 “The Virgin Mary as a feminist icon in the work of Diane Victor.” A paper  presented in section 16 (the Gendered Object) of the CIHA Congress 2012: The Challenge of the Object. Held in Nuremberg, 15-20 July 2012.

 

2012 “Interpretations of Biblical sacrifice in dialogue with contemporary South African life.”  A paper presented at Visual Dialogues: South Africa in conversation. A conference organised by the South African Visual Arts Historians (SAVAH) and held at UNISA from 5-7 July 2012.

 

2011 “Transgressive Christian iconography as a response to transformation in post- apartheid South African society.”  A paper presented at the 15th Triennial Symposium of ACASA (Arts Council of the African Studies Association)  held at UCLA from 23-26 March 2011.

 

2011 “The Relevance of Feminism in Post-apartheid South Africa”  A paper delivered at Art History in (South) Africa and the Global South.  A colloquium organized by the South African Visual Arts Historians (SAVAH) under the aegis of the Comité International d’Histoire de l’Art (CIHA) held at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 12-15 January 2011.

 

2009 “ Interdisciplinary Teaching: Can one size really fit all?”  Design Education Forum of South Africa annual conference; Graaff Reinet;  November 2009. (Co-presented with Landi Raubenheimer).

 

2009 “ Looking backward – looking forward: the changing emphasis of Christian imagery in South African art.”  A paper delivered at The Politics of Change: looking backwards and forwards.  The 25th Annual Conference of the South  African Visual Arts Historians held at the University of Pretoria 9-11 July 2009.