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Lot Essay
William Kentridge’s far-reaching practice spans across etching, charcoal drawing, collage, film and sculpture to theatre, tapestry, opera and music. Inextricably linked to the social trajectory of South Africa, often depicting a dystopian view of the country; ‘I have never tried to make illustrations of apartheid,’ he says, ‘but the drawings and the films are certainly spawned by, and feed off, the brutalised society left in its wake. I am interested in a political art, that is to say an art of ambiguity, contradiction, uncompleted gestures and uncertain endings.’ (C. Christov-Bakargiev, William Kentridge, Brussels, 1998). Kentridge has cemented a reputation for addressing disturbing social issues with unparalleled nuance and without sanctimony. His work offers an empathic means of understanding the complexities of life in South Africa.
Born to a Jewish family in Johannesburg, Kentridge continues to live and work there. He once stated to a New York journalist from The Jewish Week that ‘Jews have an interesting position in South Africa’; while his work barely pertains to Jewish culture or history, there is a diasporic thread which runs through his oeuvre. His parents were both distinguished lawyers who defended victims of the apartheid system. Kentridge’s practice inherits this concern for social justice and tackles it through different means.
Head is a powerful work that depicts a woman’s head in rich, earthy tones of acrylic, charcoal and paper collage. The expression of the figure is tense, and appears as if she is in the process of absorbing and burying some kind of trauma; she emanates a sense of resilience, yet her countenance is fractured and scarred.
William Kentridge is South Africa’s most distinguished living artist. He has been the recipient of many prestigious awards, most notably a Princesa de Asturias Award for the Arts, Spain in 2017 and being made a Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres in 2013. Selected exhibitions include Documenta, Kassel (1997, 2003, 2012); MoMA, New York (1998, 2010); Musée du Louvre, Paris (2010); The Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago (2012); The Ullens Centre for Contemporary Art in China (2015); Whitechapel Gallery, London (2016); Kunstmuseum, Basel (2019); Zeitz MoCAA, Cape Town (2019); and MUDAM, Luxembourg (2021). He was appointed an Honorary Academician of the Royal Academy in London, with a major survey opening there in September of this year.
Born to a Jewish family in Johannesburg, Kentridge continues to live and work there. He once stated to a New York journalist from The Jewish Week that ‘Jews have an interesting position in South Africa’; while his work barely pertains to Jewish culture or history, there is a diasporic thread which runs through his oeuvre. His parents were both distinguished lawyers who defended victims of the apartheid system. Kentridge’s practice inherits this concern for social justice and tackles it through different means.
Head is a powerful work that depicts a woman’s head in rich, earthy tones of acrylic, charcoal and paper collage. The expression of the figure is tense, and appears as if she is in the process of absorbing and burying some kind of trauma; she emanates a sense of resilience, yet her countenance is fractured and scarred.
William Kentridge is South Africa’s most distinguished living artist. He has been the recipient of many prestigious awards, most notably a Princesa de Asturias Award for the Arts, Spain in 2017 and being made a Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres in 2013. Selected exhibitions include Documenta, Kassel (1997, 2003, 2012); MoMA, New York (1998, 2010); Musée du Louvre, Paris (2010); The Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago (2012); The Ullens Centre for Contemporary Art in China (2015); Whitechapel Gallery, London (2016); Kunstmuseum, Basel (2019); Zeitz MoCAA, Cape Town (2019); and MUDAM, Luxembourg (2021). He was appointed an Honorary Academician of the Royal Academy in London, with a major survey opening there in September of this year.