chi.me.ra - a mythical monster (always female) with a serpent's tail, a goat's body, and a lion's head. A wild illusion, fantasy, figment of the imagination. A wild and unrealistic dream or notion

Chimera, a 2001 multimedia installation by the young South African artist Minnette Vári, is a challenging artwork rooted in the particular and problematic cultural legacy of southern Africa. As she does in many of her works, Vári has chosen a provocative strategy that directly questions the ideas of racial identity that dominate political life in her native South Africa.

In Chimera, she takes on the "Voortrekker" (Pioneer) Monument in Pretoria-a centerpiece of Afrikaner mythology dedicated in 1949. In heroic marble sculptures modeled on ancient Greek and Roman temple carvings, the Monument depicts an epic covered-wagon trek.

The inland migration of Dutch-speaking Afrikaners took place in 1835-1854, and is symbolized today by many icons strangely familiar to Americans, including the covered wagon train and the "pioneer mother."

Vári manipulates digital video of the Voorterkker Monument to create spectral projections in which the static images of its marble reliefs become fluid. Her videos animate, emphasize and distort the familiar classical forms. Meanwhile, the Chimera herself takes the form of a constantly morphing self-portrait of the artist, who haunts the figures of the monument-black, white and animal alike.

The artist will be in residence at DU to install Chimera and to meet with students in the School of Art & Art History and other departments. Following the opening reception o n Thursday, March 20, she will speak in a lecture generously co-hosted by The Women's College in its Garden Room (located at the Chambers Center, one block west of the Gallery at 1901 E. Asbury Avenue).

March 30 - May 7, 2006
Opening Events, Thursday, March 30
Artist Reception, 5:00 - 7:00 pm
Artist Talk at 7:00 pm