Visual Arts

VISUAL ARTS
Grade 12
SELF STUDY GUIDE
BOOKLET
Topic 3
VISUAL CULTURE STUDIES
Developers
Mmutle Tabane
Carina Delport
Gcinile Luthuli
Cedric Ravele
1
TABLE OF CONTENTS
No Description Page
1. Introduction 4
2. Section 1
Overview 5
Expectations and Study Content 6
Required Skills 7–8
Visual Analysis 9 – 13
Template for Analysing 14 – 15
Examples of Descriptions 16 – 17
Tips and Mark allocation 18
3. Section 2
Chapters 20 – 72
4. Section 3 74 – 128
Summaries
5. Acknowledgments 129
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SECTION 1
3
1. INTRODUCTION
Dear Student
The Visual arts study guide was developed to help you prepare for
the NSC Paper 1. The main aim was to reduce and unpack the Grade
12 syllabus. A great part of the document is based on the unpacking
of Visual literacy examples and with the inclusion of some integrated
Grade 11 work to assist in understanding the content and support in
more complex content.
The guide focuses on TOPIC 3, Visual Culture Studies (theory). The

Grade 12 work has been summarised to assist the candidate to
concentrate on the 5 required themes to respond to.
Guidelines on the following:
• how to analyse an artwork,

• how to approach a specific question, and
• what information to include in the essays,
were included to support the candidate who did not have access to a
classroom or teacher prior to the examination.
It is a wish that this guideline assists the Grade 12 candidate to

understand and embark on the study process toward the examination
with calm and confidence.
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2. OVERVIEW: TOPIC 3
Visual Culture Studies Paper 1
There are 8 themes in Grade 12 Visual Culture Studies. Study any 5 to respond
to. The textbook pages have been included for your reference.
Indicate popular questions
THEME Artists discussed in Pages in

textbook. textbook
QUESTION 1 The voice of emerging artists George Pemba P16-53

Gerard Sekoto
Peter Clarke
QUESTION 2 South African artists Irma Stern P56-98
influenced by African and/or Walter Battiss
indigenous art forms Andries Botha
QUESTION 3 Socio-political art - including Jane Alexander P100-143
Resistance Art of the ‘70s and Willie Bester
‘80s Manfred Zylla
QUESTION 4 Art, craft and spiritual works John Muafangejo P146-186
mainly from rural South Africa Jackson Hlungwani
Noria Mabasa
QUESTION 5 Multimedia and new media - William Kentridge P188-244
alternative contemporary art Willem Bosshof
forms in South Africa Jan van der Merwe
QUESTION 6 Post-democratic identity in Churchill Madikida P246-286
South Africa Conrad Botes
Hasan and Husain
Essop
QUESTION 7 Gender issues: masculinity Penelope Siopis P288-324
and femininity Lisa Brice
Mary Sibande
QUESTION 8 Architecture in South Africa Don Albert P326-364
Henning Rasmuss
Pierre Swanepoel
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1. EXPECTATIONS AND STUDY CONTENT:
• For each theme, TWO ARTISTS and TWO SPECIFIC ARTWORKS PER
ARTIST must be studied. (The knowledge of an International artist
relevant to the theme can be helpful, e.g. In Chapter 3, Arts and Politics –
Otto Dix or Max Beckmann)
• You will need Visual literacy skills to be able to analyse artworks. Each
question will consist of visual literacy (‘unseen’ artworks) and studied
content.
• The time allocation for this paper is 3 hours (36 minutes for each
question, this includes the sub-question).
• Each question will be 20 marks with a total of 100 marks for the paper.
• Questions appear on left-hand pages, with visual sources in colour on the

right-hand pages.
• All questions must be answered in essay format. No bullets and tables are
accepted.
• The examination is externally marked and moderated provincially and

nationally
• The examination is assessed according to a national standardised

marking memorandum.
• Do not repeat any given information. The Artist biography should be kept
short.
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1.1 REQUIRED SKILLS
The skills and knowledge needed for visual literacy are as follows:
• Using the correct art terminology,
• Using and applying visual analysis and critical thinking,
• Writing and researching skills within a historical and cultural context,
• Placing of specific examples in a cultural, social, political, and historical context,
• Understanding individual creative styles.
HOW TO ANALYSE AN ARTWORK
A GUIDELINE: How to do a visual analysis of an artwork.
LABEL INFORMATION / DATA
• Label information includes the name of the artist, the title of the artwork, the medium
used, and the date of the artwork. This information can be found below the visual source.
The title gives information about what the artwork is about. Some artworks are titled
Untitled. In such cases, the artist leaves the interpretation and meaning open to the
person who is looking at it.
• In works that you have studied, you must write the name and surname of the artist and
titles of works. Example: Diane Victor Why Defy e.g., never refer to the artist by his/her first name only,
rather use the surname in the discussion.
• Provide the medium – you may say it is a painting, but if it is a new/different medium
name it. Example: Noria Mabasa, Homestead III, clay
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DESCRIPTION
• Briefly identify things (subject matter) that you can see – name and describe them.
Ensure that your description is not evaluating, opinionated or interpreting. e.g., Is it a still-life,
landscape, portrait study, etc.
• Describe the main objects in the painting and their position in relation to each other e.g., the
cow is below the tree. This includes the instruction of ‘the visual appearance’. Only mention what
you can see with your eyes as if describing the work to a blind person.
DISCUSSION – UNPACKING OF FORMAL ART ELEMENTS AND DESIGN PRINCIPLES
• This is the main part of your analysis discussing the most important elements or principles
that are clearly visible in the artwork.
• You must be able to describe it and explain how it was used in the artwork.
• This discussion must make a meaningful contribution to your answer. It shows that you
have looked at the artwork, thought about what you saw and in your own words explain
your understanding. You should also discuss the relationship between the different
elements and the principles to point out the meaning of the artwork.
• Does the work belong to a specific art movement? (Show evidence of influences from
different art movements such as Fauvism with use of bright colours).
For example: In the artwork the artist makes use of colour such as brown, yellow, (range of hue colours) creating a happy
feeling. The use of repetitive diagonal lines creates the sense of rhythm and movement.
INTERPRETATION / MEANING / CONTEXT
• Use the information gathered from your DESCRIPTION and DISCUSSION to help you
identify the CONTENT of works (what the artwork tells of the human experience).
• Contextual factors – the context of the work plays a big role in highlighting the meaning
or message – the biography of the artist, political and social situations, historical factors
and/or physical place [e.g., a work created during Apartheid South Africa (Chapter 3)].
• Influences/inspirations on the artists (such as specific happenings / historic events/mayhems) and

sources (such as media) play a role in your answer.
• Defend your theory of possible meaning with evidence from other sources such as
art history, past experiences the work reminds you of, or presumed purposes. to praise,
criticize, predict, record an event, make a political or social statement, ridicule.
• Look at the symbolic meanings where possible e.g., a dove meaning peace.
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1.1 VISUAL ANALYSIS OF UNSEEN ARTWORKS
Descriptive words to describe and explain Elements of art and design
principles
Language is very important in visual analysis. You must know and understand
terminology to apply it in language. Below are lists of common descriptive words to
use in visual analysis.
LINE SHAPE / FORM TEXTURE
Actual Implied Abstracted Heavy Actual Rough
Blurred Meandering Angular Light Bumpy Sandy
Bold Ruled Asymmetrical Linear Coarse Shiny
Broken Short Biomorphic Massive Corrugated Simulated
Contour Straight Circular Open Fine Smooth

course
Curved Stippled Closed Organic Flat
Soft
Delicate Strong Cubist Repeated Furry
Sticky
Diagonal Dominant Curvaceous Round Granular
Tacky
Directional Thick Curvy Rounded Gritty
Thick
Flowing Thin Distorted Square Hairy
Uneven
Freehand Vertical Elongated Symbolic Leathery
Velvety
Fuzzy Wavy Flat Proportional Prickly
Gestural Weak Geometric Triangular
Horizontal Wide
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COLOUR VALUE SPACE
Bold Naturalistic Cast shadow, Moody Ambiguous
Brash Pale Contrasting Bright Background
Bright Polychromatic Dark Muted Closed
Calm Primary Dramatic Opaque Deep
Complementary Saturated High key Reflected light Flat
Contrasting Secondary Highlight Shaded Foreground
Cool Subdued Light Subtle Middle ground
Dull Subtle Low key Tinted Open
Dusty Tertiary Medium Transparent Overlapping
Earthy Tinted Midtown Positive / Negative
Exciting Vibrant Shallow
Garish Warm Three dimensional
Greyed Multicolour Tight

muted
Monochromatic Busy
Two dimensional
Unfocused
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Angled Layout
Arrangement Middle ground
Background Portrait format
Circular position
Diagonal Landscape format
Directional lines Square format
Focal point Structure
Foreground Triangular
COMPOSITION Horizontal Vertical
EMPHASIS RHYTHM & MOVEMENT SCALE

Dominant feature Continuous Intimate
Even distribution Directional lines Large
Eye catching Dramatic Life size
Focal point Flowing Massive
Leading lines Flowing lines Miniature
Subordinate Optical illusion Monumental
Uneven distribution Pattern Small
Zooming in Sporadic
Stillness
Swirling
Whirlpool of colour
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PROPORTION BALANCE
Out of proportion Asymmetrical
Realistic proportion Balanced equal
Exaggerated Even unbalanced
Distorted Radial balance
Elongated Symmetry
Surrealist Top heavy
Strange
Unnatural
Colours Sizes
warm vs cool (complementary) large vs small
intense vs dull (dramatic) strong and subtle
Form Shapes
real vs abstract geometric vs organic / free
Line direction Textures
horizontal vs vertical / diagonal / smooth vs rough

curved
Values
CONTRAST Shapes
light vs dark
geometric vs organic / free
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READ CONTRAST FROM LEFT TO RIGHT
TECHNIQUE BRUSHWORK MOOD SUBJECT MATTER

/ MARK MAKING ATMOSPHERE
Blended Light Aggressive Joyful Abstract Man-made
Bold Edgy Angry Lifeless Cityscape Mythological
Cross-hatching Smooth Calm Miserable Buildings Figurative
Dry brush Glazes Cheerful Peaceful Domestic Portraits
Impasto Glazes Chilling Relaxed Landscape Interiors
Smooth Scumbling Dark Romantic Imaginary Seascape
Thick Stippled Depressed Sad Industrial Still life
Thin Hatching Distressing Sombre Fantasy Urban
Timid Splattered Dull Tearful Invented
Heavy Visible Energetic Tranquil
Exciting Unhappy
Frightening Violent
Gloomy
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Style
• Identifying the style of an artwork is often difficult for learners.
• You look at the elements and see the overall effect to identify the style.
• Below are six styles you must be able to identify.
NATURALISM FIGURATIVE ABSTRACT

Art that seeks to represent accurately Figures and objects are recognizable, Art that does not depict
and faithfully the actual appearance but not necessarily lifelike. All recognisable scenes or objects.
of things. (The terms naturalistic and naturalistic artworks are figurative, but Shapes, lines, colours, etc.,
realistic are often used not all figurative works are naturalistic. exist without any reference to
synonymously; but Realism refers to reality, but with aesthetic value.
a specific movement in the 19th The artwork is “read” in terms
century). of lines, shape, colours.
EXPRESSIONISM STYLISED DECORATIVE

Art style where the emphasis is It refers to an artist uses standard Artworks where pattern or
placed on the expression of characteristics to portray an object. decoration are emphasized.
emotions and feelings of the artist. Only the general shape is shown, but
Characteristics include distortion and the detail is ignored. Stripped to basic
exaggeration. recognizable characteristics.
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1.2 TEMPLATES FOR ANALYSING ARTWORKS
One way to practice analysing artworks is to create descriptions around the

image you studied.
• Look at the following example and then do your own version of it.
• Create a mind map that will help you understand the artwork better to
prepare for tests and examinations.
In the NSC question paper, the second part of the questions will require you to
respond with studied artists and artworks. Look at the following examples:
Example: Many artists have recorded their places, experiences, and everyday
life through their artwork. Discuss the artworks by any TWO artists, (ONE work
per artist) in an essay. Give the names of the artists and the titles of the
artworks.
Please note:
If no guidelines or criteria are given in the question always respond with the
following information.
1. Name, the surname of artist and TWO titles of artworks
2. Provide a brief description of the artwork
3. Influences
4. Unpack the elements of art and design principles
5. Possible message and meaning
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To study for such type questions, make use of the below methods:
You can use the following template:
THEME: STYLE OF WORK MEDIUM AND TECHNIQUE
ARTIST, TITLE: MESSAGE AND MEANING
MOVEMENT / INFLUENCES
SUBJECT AND DESCRIPTION
FORMAL ART ELEMENTS
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EXAMPLE OF DESCRIPTIONS AROUND THE IMAGE OF THE ARTWORK YOU STUDIED
MIND MAP
Description/composition
• Chimneys and smoke coming from them- uses open fire to cook
• Town very neat and clean Subject matter/
• Sidewalks not paved theme
A busy street in the
• No street lights
township. Every
• The street positioned in the middle of the composition daily life/ urban
Influences
• Many people moving around going about their daily task/ business landscape
• Impressionistic – painted what he
• On both sides of tar road there are neat houses with tin roofs and
saw.
• Snapshot was taken from real life gardens
• No detail •
Style
• Naturalistic. Not a lot of
Colour detail
• warm and cold colours create an
exciting feeling in the community
• Road: blue grey with light blue sky
in the background
• Orange and yellow in the clothing of
people
Brushwork/ application of paint
• Red/ orange repeated in earthy and form
colours around the sidewalk • Gestural brushstrokes – not
• White seen in shirts of the men in expressive
the foreground • Contributes to the 3-
dimensionality of forms
• Green in the trees which breaks the such as trees, bushes
dominance for earthen red brown • Forms have a feeling of
solidity due to painting
style
George Pemba, New Brighton Port Elisabeth, Oil on canvas
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EXAMPLE 2:
This diagram asks eight key questions about an artwork. It will help with placing the content in
context as to where it was made and the history around that time. The meaning of the artwork
must be considered. Start at the top centre and then work clockwise.
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2. TIPS AND MARK ALLOCATION
Mark distribution: This information is applicable to all recall questions
ü Example: artist name + correct artwork = 1 mark

ü A maximum of 2 marks are awarded to the background information of the artist. Do not
waste time with unimportant facts.
ü Description of artwork – 1 mark
ü Unpack elements and design principles.
THE ABOVE CONTENT MUST BE CONSIDERED FOR THE TWO ARTISTS YOU WILL
CHOOSE TO ANSWER
• Look for specific instructions and limitations:
§ If the question asks for a discussion of the work by any two artists, you may discuss
more works by each artist.
§ When the question state that you must respond by discussing relevant South African
artists – you are only allowed to discuss South African artists.
§ If the question does not specify you may discuss international as well as South
African artists
• Do not waste time on background information on artists that will not be credited.
§ You must provide the full name of the artist and titles of works. Provide the medium –
you may say it is a painting, but if it is a new/different medium name it e.g. Jan van der
Merwe’s; Rusted sculptures or Willem Kentridge; films.
§ You may not use given examples from the question paper to be used as reference.
§ Underline, artists’ names and titles of artworks. The marker will then immediately
know what artwork is discussed. This is instruction 7 on page 2, adhere to it!
• When you discuss artworks of a more conceptual nature e.g. new media artworks
use the following guide:
ü Describe the work in detail e.g. Beuys sat on a chair with his face covered with gold
leaves. It is necessary to convey all the main elements of the work.
ü Refer to the media – e.g. a performance captured on photos for documentation.

Message/Meaning – expand.
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SECTION 2
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CHAPTER 1: VOICE OF THE EMERGING ARTISTS
Background and Influence
The following terms are specifically linked to the content in this chapter. It will assist you when
writing your essay. Use the words to explain findings and what you see in the artwork.
Remember to always explain your answer.
Terminology
Asymmetric composition: balance in the composition which is off-centre (one part has more
colours, lines, texture, objects etc than the other part of the composition.
Avant-Garde: Artists who were the first to use new ways and techniques to apply paint to the
canvas.
Complementary colour: Colours situated opposite each other on the colour wheel. Red and
green; blue and orange; yellow and purple.
Distortion: the change of the original shape of something.
Expressionism: art with a strong expression of personal feelings and emotions through breaking
up parts of the object. Looks less natural. See the image on pg.
Exotic: From a distant or foreign country not local.
Fauvism: Art movement characterised by strong colour and powerful brushstrokes. Their work
looked happy.
Impasto: Thickly applied paint. Paint applied directly from the paint tube or with a palette knife
Naturalistic representation: the picture of realistic objects in a natural situation/location. See the
image on pg.
Simplified: simpler or easier to do or understand.
Symbolic: representing something else
Western art movements: Art movements originated in Europe such as France, Italy, Germany.
Movements that originated from these countries are Impressionism, Post- Impressionism,
German expressionism, Fauvism, the Renaissance etc.
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Artists in this theme were influenced by Western art movements and artists. The following
influences and aspects can be identified out of the artworks of George Pemba, Gerard Sekoto
and Peter Clarke.
Question 1.1 contain characteristics of Western art movements which you must identify and
explain. Link the characteristics (such as Realism, Impressionism, Expressionism, etc.) to the
visual source (unseen pictures in the examination paper).
REALISM: Portrayal of the ugly, dark side of life and the suffering of the people.
CHARACTERISTICS OF REALISM
Subject Matter / Application of paint /

Composition Shapes
Theme Brushwork
• General theme: • Often like a scene • Shapes are clearly • Visible
about working from an ongoing visible
class and labourers situation
• Portrayed the
hardship of life and
normal ordinary
poor people
• Images of
unglamorous jobs
Colour
• Mostly somber, earthy colours such as brown, yellow. Colours that make you feel depressed and sad.
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IMPRESSIONISM: The Impressionist was a diverse group of artists using different styles, ordinary
subject matter, unusual visual angles, and inclusion of movement as a crucial element of human perception
and experience but were all independent and rebellious.
CHARACTERISTICS OF IMPRESSIONISM
Subject matter / Colour and Light The Fleeting Brushwork

Themes movement
• Everyday Scenes • Did not mix • Captured the fleeting • Short, visible
colours – (or moment (something brushstrokes –
• Sunlit Streets mixed very little) which lasts only for a broken brushstrokes
very short time) – outlines were not
• Landscapes • Tried to get the very visible
pigment as close
• Open-Air Cafes as possible to the • Paint applied
natural colour impasto
• Joy Of Life seen in sunlight
• Obtained
brightness by
applying
complementary
colours next to
each other
• Light and shade

created by colour
and NOT black
and white.
• Mostly used light

colours
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POST-IMPRESSIONISM: Post meaning a movement which was influenced came after
Impressionism
CHARACTERISTICS OF POST-IMPRESSIONISM
Subject Matter
Space and depth Colour Brushwork
(What did they paint)
• The landscape • Rejected one-point • Bright colours like • Used rectangular
perspective (sometimes impressionist but brushstrokes – not for
• Still life not correct/accurate) more structured expression but for
rhythm
• Conscious of the
•
• Bathers and portraits
flatness of the painted
Flat colour is broken
(Cezanne) canvas by adding a different • Physical marks of
colour (like a brush and paint can be
• Interiors • Often used line mosaic) seen on the canvas.
perspective (van Gogh) This creates rhythmic
• Worked from reality • Shapes often movements (van
but portrayed an • Used flat decorative outlined with dark Gogh)
emotional reaction to it spaces where the contour colour
(van Gogh) background is as bright • Paint applied by brush,
as the foreground
• Emotional use of palette knife or directly
• Worked from memory • No attempt to create a
colour (van Gogh) from the tube of paint.
(Gauguin) naturalistic
representation of the • Strong pure colour • Broad parallel
• Religious and spiritual subject matter and often yellows brushstrokes in
themes are placed against decorative and
blues and violets simplified application
• Colour symbolic
Composition Approach and creative
• Worked from reality • Did not mix colours – (Gauguin)
(or mixed very little)
• Simplified and
distorted shapes • Tried to get the
pigment as close as
possible to the natural
• No unnecessary
colour seen in
detail. sunlight
• Did not copy nature • Obtained brightness

and worked from his by putting
memory (Gauguin) complementary
colours next to each
• Big, simplified other
figures
• Light and shade
created by colour and
NOT black and white.
• Work personal and

subjective (van Gogh)
• Mysterious and
exotic (Gauguin)
• Distinct influence of
Fauvism (Gauguin)
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EXPRESSIONISM: A highly different style where a free distortion of shape and colour
was applied
CHARACTERISTICS OF EXPRESSIONISM/ GERMAN EXPRESSIONISM
Subject Matter
Space and depth Colour Brushwork
(What did they paint)
• Social conditions. • Emphasis was on • Strong use of • Broad, free to create
emotion primary colour and emotion
later became dark
• Simplified their and dark (somber) • Paint applied in
shapes lines (linear) – to
• Strong colour portray artist’s
• Made use of contrast – big emotion
distortion difference between
the light colours and • Paint applied
• Shapes often the dark colours roughly and thick
outlined with strong used
dark colours
Composition
• Claustrophobic – crowded – many people
in a composition
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VISUAL LITERACY Example question
QUESTION 1: THE VOICE OF EMERGING ARTISTS
Gerard Bhengu focused on his immediate surroundings as a source of inspiration, capturing

scenes of everyday life.
1.1 Critically analyse FIGURE 1a in an essay. Use the following guidelines:
• Discuss the elements of art (line, colour and texture)
• Identify the focal point and provide a reason for your answer
• Discuss how the artist creates perspective
• Style and technique
When you Critically analyse It is important to (10)

you must examine (carefully acknowledge the mark
look at) and evaluate (to
allocation. Write enough
judge)
information in your answer.
Perspective: diagonal line is used to create

one point perspective. The vanishing point
disappears out of the composition
Source: DBE NSC Visual art May/ June 2021
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LET US UNPACK THE QUESTION
Let’s look at some of the words in the tables above to find

words to describe the colour:
1. Discuss elements of art:
• All colours found in nature – Dusty and earthy
line and colour are colours: variation of browns and red browns seen in
mentioned but you can the figures, hut, clothes, fence.
discuss form and tonal • Blue in the sky.
value as well • Green and yellow in the leaves of the trees creating a
naturalistic look and feel.
Let’s look at words to describe line and texture in the

artwork:
• Contour lines in the line to show the shape of the hut
• Soft, Curved lines to create the shape of the figures,
• Directional lines indicating the perspective and
texture of the grass in the fence and hut. Directional
lines are also used in the pleats in the blanket the
elderly man is wearing
• Horizontal lines are seen in the sticks used to support
the fence
• Vertical lines in the fence create the texture
indicating the natural sticks used to create the fence
• Using various lines – the texture of the natural
objects is created
2. Identify the focal What object is standing out and why?

• The sangoma with the fuzzy hat and dolos is standing
point and give a reason out because he is painted lighter – white was used,
why you say so • Larger than the other figures which painted slightly
smaller
• Texture used in the hat which also draws the eye
• There is more expression visible on his face
compared to the other two elderly men.
Perspective: diagonal line is used to create a

3. Discuss how the artist one-point perspective. The vanishing point
creates perspective disappears out of the composition
Look at the influences. Try and find Western-style

techniques that influenced the artist:
• Naturalism: accurate representation of the
appearance of scenes and objects.
4. Style and technique • Artist was influenced by realism depicting a
scene of everyday rural life. It can also be
seen in the use of earthy colours. 27
• Brushstrokes: smooth and used in
directions to create texture in objects.
Below is an example of how the second part of the question will look like.
Discuss the artwork of any TWO artists (ONE artwork per artist) that have captured
interesting themes. Give the names of the artists and the titles of the artworks. Consider
the following in your essay:
ü Subject matter
ü Influences
ü Formal art elements
ü Media and technique
ü Message/Meaning of the artwork (10)
The following artists should be discussed under

The Voice of emerging artists.
Choose any TWO artists to study. Find the summaries on pages 74 – 124.
George Pemba Gerard Sekoto Peter Clarke
Yellow Houses – Wind blowing on the

Terror
Sophiatown Cape Flats
New Brighton, Port Elizabeth Song of the Pick Family Fleeing From fire
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CHAPTER 2
SOUTH AFRICAN ARTISTS INFLUENCED BY AFRICA AND / OR INDIGENOUS ART
The indigenous African arts were first introduced as primitive art. African masks and sculptures
influenced Western art and changed the face of Art altogether. Characteristics such as simplified
shapes, geometric lines, and representational facial and distorted features (basic shapes such as
ovals, circles were used to represent facial features) taken from African art and incorporated into
the art of Europe.
German Expressionism
Max Burtchartz, Untitled Lithograph Terracotta mask from the NOK people
Cubism: Pablo Picasso

Les Demoiselles d ’Avignon 1907 Wooden mask from Cameroon
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Fauvism: Henri Matisse, Expressionism
Portrait of Madame Matisse; The Green Line Edvard Munch, The Scream
ART of the SAN The Night market, 1965: Walter Battiss

Image taken from www.bushmanskloof.co.za Influence by Fauvism, Cubism, expressionism,
and the arts of the San
Characteristics of Expressionism, German expressionism, Cubism, and Fauvism
Cubism Fauvism Expressionism /

ü Space flat ü Bold, bright colour ü Use primary colours
ü Brocken brushstrokes ü Forms distorted ü Simplified and distorted
ü Areas of colour contrast ü Drawing simplified – shapes
(big difference between looked like a child’s ü Shapes were outlined
colours) drawing ü Jagged shaped,
ü Broke down real objects ü Decorative geometric, angular
into different parts ü Shapes outlined ü elongated
ü Crowded and
claustrophobic
compositions
ü Linear
ü Paint freely and roughly
applied.
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CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SAN ROCK ART CHARACTERISTICS OF THE ISINDEBELE MURALS
ü Human figures that were simplified, ü Decorated homes in bright coloured

stretched out shapes contrasting colours
ü Animals and more specifically the eland ü Patterns and textures were created through
were painted to look realistic. finger painting and pigments from nature
such as flowers/mud
ü Human figures were painted in a variety of
poses. Figures show activities such as ü The Ndzundza (Southern amaNdebele)
hunting, collecting plants and roots, and a used mural decoration to strengthen their
variety of poses. culture and individuality.
ü Patterns designs in murals are related to
their beadwork.
VISUAL LITERACY Example question
UAL LITERACY:
Example question
QUESTION 2: SOUTH AFRICAN ARTISTS INFLUENCED BY AFRICAN AND/OR INDIGENOUS / ART FORMS
Soccer is one of the most popular sports enjoyed by many throughout the world. FIGURE 2c
is an example of a futurist artist's interpretation of the energy of the game. FIGURES 2a and
2b show a unique African flavour.
Discuss the interpretation of the theme of soccer by considering the following:
• How the two-dimensional and the three-dimensional use of media affect the
portrayal of the theme
• Energy/Rhythm/Movement portrayed in the style and technique of the works
• African and/or Western influences
(12)
you have to think a bit more about what a source says or shows
about a topic. This requires you to identify unspoken ('hidden' or
less obvious) meanings in the images given
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Figure 2a: Zamani Romeo Makhanya, Figure 2b: Jackson Hlungwane
Soccer Rhythm, ink print on cotton paper, 2010 Christ Playing Soccer, carved wood
Figure 2c: Unberto Boccioni, Dynamism of a Soccer player, oil on canvas, 1913
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Study the images. The soccer theme is clear in all three images. The titles/ label information
confirms this.
• Figure 2a and 2c are both 2D. The theme was
represented on a print and painting,
• The carving lines in the wood is directional and
curve around to present a 3D object,
1. How the 2-Dimensional • Clothes are carved in the sculpture,
and the 3-Dimensional • Figure 2b is a sculpture that is 3D, all the details
use of media affect the can be viewed by walking around it,
portrayal (depiction / • In Figure 2a and 2c, the use of colour and line
portrays the movement of the soccer players
show) of the theme which carries the theme,
• Figures overlap which adds to the excitement of
the moment,
• Sharp clear outlines are visible in the figures
and objects – this also adds to the energy of the
work.
• African mask-like faces, movement of hands

visible It shows happiness, excitement, and
movement.
• The repetition of the patterns on the clothing
depicts traditional African motifs.
2. Energy / Rhythm / • The repetition of the feet shows the physical
Movement portrayed in the energetic kicking actions of a soccer player.
style and technique of the • Three other round shapes represent the
movement of a bouncing ball.
works • Rhythm is also created by the repetition of the
colours,
• FIGURE 2b: In the sculpture, a figurative,
distorted, simplified figure is carved from wood.
An expressionistic approach is clear in the hard
facial features, large head, and shortened legs.
• The legs of the figure are static, and the soccer
ball is held between his feet. The figure is
preparing to move or dribble the ball.
• FIGURE 2c: fragmented shapes painted in
contrasting blues and oranges which creates
energy and movement in painting.
• Figure 2a shows the influence of Fauvism using

bright colours.
• African influence is seen in Figure 2a and 2c in
3. African and/or Western the simplified lines and use of geometric shapes.
influences • Representational facial features seen in African
masks can be seen in the faces of the players.
• Figure 2c, Distortion is visible in the soccer gear.
The influence of Cubism and Pointillism on
Futurism can be seen in the deformed shapes
that creates movement and vibrancy. It shows
the energy of a soccer game.
33
South African artists influenced by African and/or indigenous art forms
Choose any TWO artists.
Helen Sebidi Irma Stern Walter Battiss

The child’s mother holds the Pondo Woman Fisherman Drawing Nets
sharp side of the knife
Rural Scene Still life with mask Symbols of life
PERSONAL NOTES AND IDEAS
34
CHAPTER 3: SOCIAL-POLITICAL ART, INCLUDING RESISTANCE ART OF THE 70’S AND 80’S
There has always been a strong relationship between art and politics. From early history, leaders
presented themselves as idealised figures in art to show their absolute power. During the
FRENCH Revolution art was created to help the poor to rise and overthrow the government
which led to the fall of the Bastille.
Eugene Delacroix, Liberty Leading the People, 1830, Oil on Canvas
Banksy Graffiti - Migrant Child, Venice Biennal 2019 art fair
35
Terminology and examples:
Anti-art: the rejection of art and the meaninglessness of the world. An example of this is the
artwork by Kendell Geers, The Terrorist apprentice, 2002 Matchstick
DADA: protest movement against world war I. Dada was a rebellious upsurge of vital energy
and rage – Max Ernst
Idealised: when something or someone is represented as perfect or better than in reality
Propaganda: information, especially of a partial or misleading nature, used to promote a

political cause or subjective point of view.
Kendell Geers, The Terrorist apprentice; 2002 Matchstick
Neo-objectivity: it was a realist style that depicted, satirised, and criticised the corruption,
frantic pleasure, and general demoralisation of Germany after its defeat in World war I.
• Romantic artist Francisco Goya created a series Disasters of War, which represented
the brutality and horror of war more savagely than ever before.
• Pablo Picasso created Guernica, based on the bombing of the town Guernica. He
used a cubistic style to depict the atrocities. The monochromatic use of colour (only
one colour) creates a dramatic effect to emphasise the horror which took place during
that night.
Pablo Picasso, Pablo Picasso, Guernica, 1937, Oil on Canvas, 1937, Oil on Canvas
36
DADA
• World war ONE
• Against traditional art and artmaking
• Rebel against logic and reason
• Reacted against with Ready-mades and photomontage, found objects – manufactured

objects -did not create
Ready-made – is an ordinary manufactured object such as a bicycle wheel. These ordinary

objects were used to create art.
Photomontage- is different photos which is pasted to create an artwork

In Contemporary Art – ready-mades are used in the form of an installation.
READY-MADE PHOTOMONTAGE
Marcel Duchamp, Bicycle Wheel, Hannah Hoch, Cut with the Dada Knife
Kitchen 1913 Thethinklink.com through the Last Weimar-Beer-Belly
Cultural Epoch in Germany Theartstrory.org
37
Art is often used as propaganda to enforce a ruler and/or political system. Propaganda was used
to mislead or in many cases inform the public about political suggestions. On the other hand, art
can also be a powerful weapon to show opposition to the political system.
ü Many years of wars and conflict during the

twentieth century have resulted in a variety
POLITICAL ART of artistic expressions,
ü This movement criticised the corruption and

general demoralisation of Germany after its
defeat in the First World War.
ü Before 1976 South African art was mainly

non-political.
ü The Soweto uprising of 1976 sparked a new

commitment by many artists to play a
conscious role to play under conditions of
RESISTANCE ART IN SOUTH AFRICA oppression in South Africa.
ü An increasing number of artists, both black

and white, began to see art as a means of
showing their view of political and social
issues in South Africa
ü Art became a way to voice the injustices in

the South African society.
ü Apartheid was a system of racial

APARTHEID IN SOUTH AFRICA
segregation enforced through legislation by
the various national party governments.
38
VISUAL LITERACY Example Questions
QUESTION 3: SOCIO-POLITICAL ART, INCLUDING RESISTANCE ART OF THE 70’S AND 80’S
The artist Manfred Zylla is extremely concerned about the destiny of humanity and the future of
planet Earth. Art, for him, is a tool for social change and not about pretty pictures.
With figure 3, Manfred Zylla wants to change attitudes towards disabilities.

Discuss how he does this by referring to the following:
• Format / Triptych
• Imagery This is linked to propaganda- the artist
• Line are making the public aware of
• Focal point mistreatment of people with different
• Space
abilities.
• Colour
• Emotional impact (8)
Triptych: An artwork that consists of three parts, but reads as one work
39
Manfred Zylla, Untitled (Lost), mixed media, 200
ü The artwork is made up of three horizontal

formats which make up a narrative telling a
story from the top to the bottom.
FORMAT / TRYPITCH
ü Although presented in the triptych the
frames all seem to interact with one
another almost as if one was looking at a
comic strip or an animation
ü The work consists of three sections

IMAGINARY (specific ü In the middle panel four figures are visible in
images used to background
portray meaning)
ü The figure in the background is framed by
vertical lines and look distorted and
deformed.
Line
ü The use of diagonal lines of the path leads
the eye to the focal point.
LINE ü It also creates depth in the composition.
ü The diagonal lines of the foreground in

scenes two and three also create depth.
ü The point at which all element or aspects

converge, centre of activity or attention.
FOCAL POINT AND
SPACE ü The man in the wheelchair is created
wearing a very bright yellow
overall/jumpsuit which make the figure
stand out against the black and grey
background
ü The man in the wheelchair could

symbolise the lost, disabled person in
society.
COLOUR AND
ü He is portrayed without an identity as
EMOTIONAL
his face is not shown clearly. The
IMPACT
wheelchair becomes his safe
environment and security.
ü The title Untitled (Lost) has an 40

underlying meaning of nameless people
lost in society.
Socio-Political Art, Including Resistance Art of the 70’s and 80’s
Jane Alexander Willie Bester Manfred Zylla
Butcher Boys Hamba Kahle Bullets and sweets
Bom Boys Who let the Dogs out Games
• It is important to note that you are not allowed to discuss the artwork that was used in
the previous questions. However, in this case you can still discuss Manfred Zylla, but it
must be different artworks.
41
CHAPTER 4: ART, CRAFT AND SPIRITUAL WORKS MAINLY FROM RURALSOUTH AFRICA
Background and influences
Created by black Considered to be

people without lesser to fine art
training
ART, CRAFT & Symbolic use of

SPIRITUAL imaginary
Skills developed by WORKS patterns &
family members colours
FUNCTIONAL
SPIRITUAL RITUAL
RELIGIOUS
42
OVERVIEW OF ARTISTS
John Muafangejo. New archbishop Desmond Nesta nala. Uphiso.

Tutu Enthroned 1986 linocut. No date. Earthenware
Jackson Hlungwani. God’s Leg with Eggs. Bonnie Ntshalintshali. Lobola. 1998 painted
1984. Wood earthenware
43
MEDIUM AND TECHNIQUE STYLE
Sculptures, headrests, staffs, medicine vessels, ü Decorative with the use of simplified forms
beadworks, clay pots and baskets: and shapes, as seen on the weaved basket,
clay pots, icansi / thovho / legogo.
ü Natural material such as wood, stone, clay
and grass were used. ü Figures are simplified and certain elements
such as eyes, noses and mouths are
ü Artists later accepted the influence from exaggerated and distorted.
outside and therefore glass, beads, paints,
metal, and plastic covered telephone wire ü Influenced by Cubism and Expressionism
have all been incorporated into creating (Refer to page 13).
artworks.
ü German Expressionists create woodcuts that
ü Carving as a traditional technique are related are even closer connected to African Art.
to the linocut printmaking process used by
some rural artists. e.g. John Muafangejo ü Academics theories classify the artists and
refer to their works as “transitional art”
ü Mass-produced artworks that were made for (which means the artists were in a state of
economic purposes, but the creators were not change from one cultural context to the
recognised. (Baskets, Isithebe / Luselo / another).
Leselo, etc)
ü In recent times a new category called
“community art” started (which was to
classify the broader variety of work produced
by informally trained black artists).
44
VISUAL LITERACY: Example question
QUESTION 4: ART, CRAFT AND THE SPIRITUAL WORKS MAINLY FORM RURAL SOUTH AFRICA
South Africa is a very bountiful and colourful country in terms of arts and crafts and is
reinventing itself all the time.
Choose any TWO artworks (FIGURES 4a to 4d) and discuss how these crafts were reinvented by
referring to the following:
• Pattern and colour

• Techniques
• Function of the artwork (8)
45
Study the craft images that are provided in the question paper and answer the questions below.
You must discuss the reinvention of these crafts as questioned.
ü Figure 4a: Pattern is created by repetitive geometric shapes.

ü Natural colours such as ochre, brown, and black were used to
bring life to the pattern.
ü Bands of symmetrical and geometric shapes create a
curved/snakelike line around the baskets.
ü Figure 4b: The patterns are created by a repetition of circles,
dots, and eclipse shaped forms.
ü The bright bold colours: pink, green, yellow contrast against
the black background.
Pattern & colour ü The figure, plants and houses consist of bold colours: pink,
yellow, orange, red and blue amongst others.
ü The colour and non-representational.
ü Shapes are stylised, naive, and childlike
ü Figure 4c: The circular telephone wire basket is multi-
coloured (red, green, blue, yellow, turquoise, green and
black).
ü Figure 4a: The baskets were woven in such a way ü Has spiral pattern which creates an optical illusion.
that when the weave gets wet it expands and ü All the lines meet in the centre of the basket.
becomes watertight. ü Figure 4d: Geometrical patterns (zigzag, diamond, circle) are
ü Figure 4b: The technique used to create the dominant in the rug and the shawl/blanket.
composition is called applique: decorative ü The geometrical patterns are repeated which create rhythm
needlework in which pieces of textiles/material in and makes the design of the carpet symmetrical.
different shapes and patterns are sewn onto a ü The carpet consists of black, earthy brown and reddish
larger piece to form a picture or pattern. The colours with hints of pale blue, light green and pink in
composition consists of a homestead and a contrast with red, orange, and white.
woman stamping mealies in a pot. The two huts in
the background overlap each other and the three
chickens, a tree, and plants/flowers are placed in
the foreground. There is a cloud in the top right-
hand side.
ü The words Ukugqula Umbila (stamping of
Technique
mielies/corn) are embroidered diagonally next to
the tree and roof of the one hut. Shweshwe fabric
has been used in some of the objects/figures. The
artist has chosen to use plain material and
Shweshwe patterned fabrics in the composition. ü Figure 4a: Functional, the Western culture buys these baskets
ü Figure 4c: A bowl/basket made from woven wire. as a decorative ornament.
ü Figure 4d: The carpet is woven by hand. The ü Figure 4b: Narrative/documentation (capturing a scene from
printed cotton/polyester fabrics are printed in a every day). The applique can be functional or decorative (used
textile factory. as a pillow, decorative wall-hanging)
ü The carpets are knitted using mohair/wool. ü Figure 4c: The wire basket can be functional as well as
decorative. This basket can be used as a fruit bowl or to
decorate walls in a home / building.
ü Figure 4d: The carpet can be functional as well as decorative.
The carpet can be used as a sleeping mat or placed on a wall as
an aesthetic feature. The printed fabric is used to make
clothing or throws. The fabric is often not reworked into a
Function of the work wearable garment but used as-is. All artworks can relate to job
creation/fashionable/aesthetically pleasing as well as being
marketed globally
46
ART, CRAFT AND THE SPIRITUAL WORKS MAINLY FORM RURAL SOUTH AFRICA
Choose any TWO artists
Jackson Hlongwane Noria Mabasa John Muafangejo
Son of Adam Mukhali, The Royal Wedding

Leaping Fish Ngoma Lungundu I The Archbishop
Christ playing Football Domba Dancers Desmond Tutu
Enthroned
PERSONAL NOTES AND IDEAS
47
CHAPTER 5: MULTIMEDIA, ALTERNATIVE AND POPULAR ART FORMS IN SOUTH AFRICA
NEW MEDIA
CONCEPTUAL VIDEO AND INSTALLATION PERFORMANCE BODY LAND ART /

ART DIGITAL ART ART ART ART EARTH ART
PERFORMANCE • Visual art is combined with elements of theatre or film.

ART • Consists of a series of actions of an individual or a group at a specific
time.
• Comprises of time, space, the artist’s body, and the relationship between the
artist and his / her audience.
• Contents is about what is happening in the world at the time.
APPROACH AND
TECHNIQUE
Mlu Zondi (South African), Silhouette
• Explores the issues of relationships and violence in his performances.

• A third figure in the background walks around them and makes a video that is
projected onto a screen behind them.
BODY ART • Human body is the central image related to international Body Art.
• Often the artist’s body, but not necessarily, is the media of expression.
• The activities take place in the private or public domain, documentation takes
place. Deals with extreme masochistic and painful situations such as Chris
Burden and Gina pane.
48
• Conveys a certain idea or message to spectators.
CONCEPTUAL • Does not use traditional art media.
ART • The written language, photographs, documents, charts, maps, film, video etc.
APPROACH • Convey words and language often become as important to the artworks as
AND images.
TECHNIQUE • It is based on the intellect rather than the visual experience.
• The artworks become more important than technique and artistic skill.
• The onlooker must think about the meaning and nature of the artwork
conceptually.
• Has a strong socio-political background.
• Their artworks often show frustration with society and government policies.
EXAMPLE of
CONCEPTUAL
ART
Bernie Searle (South African) Colour Me series
• Searle presents herself to be looked at like an example or body that is placed

under a spotlight for dissection or identification.
• Searle comments on racial stereotyping and is challenging the viewer’s concept
of race and colour.
49
INSTALLATIONS • The artist exhibits a group of objects in a three-dimensional space.
• The artist uses traditional sculpture- as well as alternative media (e.g.
electronic media) and found objects.
• Elements like lighting, sound, and movement, are often used.
• The audience often actively interacts with the artwork, instead of
watching it from a distance.
• Touching it, climbing onto or entering into it, is sometimes encouraged.
Tracey Emin (British artist)

My Bed (1998) Mattress, linens, pillows, other objects
EARTH ART / • Artworks created in nature, using natural elements or materials, and
LAND ART / sometimes introducing manufactured materials.
ENVIRONMENTAL
• The relationship between the artist and the environment is also
ART
regularly explored.
• Photographs are taken to document the final artwork as well as its
deterioration of it.
• It is created in an open space and is site-specific. (Cannot be moved)
APPROACH AND
TECHNIQUE
Strydom van der Merwe, Oaks in Dorp Street 30 days in July 2008
• Materials are provided by the chosen site.

• Work often involves geometric shapes which represents the coming together of
nature and man’s intelligence.
• Observe the fragility of the beauty of nature and acknowledges the ceaseless
cycle of life and death.
50
VIDEO AND • Video art relies on moving pictures and consists of data.
DIGITAL ART
• Uses devices and processes of television and video.
• Digital technology used as part of the creative processes.
• The juxta-positioning of virtual images and the incorporation of sound have

transformed this creative process.
• Art is a form of communication rather than a unique artwork that is exhibited

and sold.
• It can easily be reproduced and broadcast over long distances and be

accessible to people.
EXAMPLE
Viola, triptych
• Artworks by Viola usually associated with religious paintings.
• Left side: video showing the birth of a baby.
• Right side: an old woman that is dying is shown.
• Middle panel: video depicting the body of a man floating in the water.
• Middle panel shows metaphorically how you progress from birth to death.
• There is also a soundtrack of crying, water movement and breathing.
51
VISUAL LITERACY:
Example question
QUESTION 5
MULTIMEDIA AND NEW MEDIA: ALTERNATIVE CONTEMPORARY AND POPULAR AART FORMS IN
SOUTH AFRICA
In FIGURE 5a Athi-Patra Ruga draws inspiration from the fashion world and portrays a figure
covered in flowers and jewels, while in FIGURE 5b, Wim Botha combines two figures made from
books, encyclopaedias, and Bibles.
Compare FIGURES 5a and 5b and comment on the differences and similarities between the two
artworks. Use the following criteria:
• Subject matter
• Symbolic meaning of the materials in both FIGURES 5a and 5b
• The posture/positioning of the figures
• Your interpretation of the meaning of the artworks (8)
When you point out and discuss the

similarities and/or differences between
two or more things
52
Figure 5a. Two female figures facing the viewer.
The dressed figure on the right is headless while
the posing central figure is nude.
Figure 5b. The Male is sitting on a pram without
limbs, poured with black paint on his head, and
SYMBOLISM & has stains of red in his chest.
IMAGINARY
Figure 5c. Female figure standing with nails in
her whole body, with the chain.
Figure 5b: The artist created a 3D sculpture Figure 5d. Male figure bends over on the floor,
using discarded found objects. The with a hidden face. His jeans are below below
dummy's head and torso have been his buttocks.
splattered with paint and placed within a
baby pram creating a shocking and
haunting effect. The chest cavity of the Figure 5a. The combination and juxta-
torso has been hollowed out and a cross positioning of different mechanical, industrial,
has been placed where the heart should and anatomical parts are upsetting and create a
be. The dummy is propped up against a mood of discomfort. The use of anatomical/x-
rayed images makes the viewer uncomfortable.
`
Figure 5d: The figure is bending over with
MATERIAL & TEXTURES
his/her upper torso concealed in a large bag as
if he/she is looking for something. The posse
`` resembles a caterpillar. The figure is made from
rubber tubing and include real underwear. The
low place pants make reference to certain
fashion trends.
Figure 5c: Revenants III shows a pregnant figure

with a head sticking out from a hessian sack. The
hessian sack is a coarsely woven fabric and is FIGURE 5a: The juxtaposition of different images to
worn as a garment. The sack is a symbol or create a fantasy, dreamlike Surrealist artwork.
metaphor showing that people are treated like
FIGURE 5b: A powerful and haunting image that
trash. It de-humanises the human form and reminds us of death.
creates a disturbing work. The rubber flaps
coming from her frame indicate that she is falling FIGURE 5c: The human form appears to be de-
apart or changing shape. Pieces of rubber sticks humanised. The hessian fabric is wrapped around
out from the legs and arms of the dummy. Spikes the head almost suffocating the sculpture. The
rubber chain is also an indication of her being
have been driven through the skin. It invites the
contained and imprisoned. The chain could
viewer to touch the textures as if to soothe the
represent an umbilical cord. The texturized rubber
skin. The rubber chain around her waist extends pieces protruding from her legs and arms could refer
to the floor also create a tactile texture. It invites to her being tortured and distressed.
the viewer to feel and identify the material. The
sack over the head is suffocating her. Smooth FIGURE 5d: The artists' interpretation of the artwork
gold antennae are seen protruding from her is that of a creature swallowing a person. The idea of
searching for or concealing one's identity is created.
ears.
The idea of the known and unknown, being ejected
or consumed, inside-outside, comfort, shelter,
contrast, 53
POSSIBLE
MEANING & perfection, sacred space, pleasure, fantasy, duality is
MESSAGES
MULTIMEDIA AND NEW MEDIA: ALTERNATIVE CONTEMPORARY AND POPULAR ART FORMS IN SOUTH AFRICA
William Kentridge Willem Boshoff Jan van Der Merwe
Shadow procession Blind Alphabet Baggage arrival
Ubu tells the truth Table Book Confessional
Johannesburg, the 2nd

The Purple shall govern Waiting
greatest city after Paris
• It is important to note in this chapter / theme all artworks should be non-

traditional – meaning animation, installations, performing arts, multi-media
etc. No paintings or drawings will receive marks.
54
CHAPTER 6: POST-1994, DEMOCRATIC IDENTITY IN SOUTH AFRICA
What is The expression of identity plays a big role in the post (after)-1994 and includes a range of artists. It also
this theme covers contemporary (most recent time) international artists such as Ai Wei Wei and Anselm Kiefer.
about?
Glossary Ethnic – a group sharing cultural characteristics such as language, religion, tradition, food, etc.
Historic • Identity is personal or how people act; makes a person recognised as a member of a group or as an
Content individual.
• Identity involves how we are similar or different from each other.
1. What is Identity? 2. Identity in Post-1994 3. Identity in Post-1994 democratic

democratic South Africa South African art
“Who am I”. Identity can be § Post 1994 contemporary • The end of apartheid gave
classified in the following ways: South African artists express freedom of expression to both
• Individual Identity – Identity urban identity by combining individuals and groups.
held by each person influences from street culture, § Process of intense personal
• Social Identity – The portraits, urban life, and social reflection in trying to understand
collective sense of belonging to media. the past and build a future.
a group § South Africa, due to the § Themes include issues of
• Cultural Identity – The sense changes after apartheid, the language, ethnicity, race, history,
of belonging to a distinct new government included a globalisation, and urbanisation in
ethnic, cultural, or sub-cultural new flag, new national the new South Africa.
group. anthem, number of racial § a strong obsession with life
• An Individual can explain “who groups, multiple languages, stories where the artists question
they are” by using pointers like and socio-economical gaps. and reflect on their heritage,
family and/or friends, ethnicity, There are stereotypes family identity, gender, and class.
language, beliefs, values, identified, however, it was not
history, interests, hobbies, pushed that people follow a
habits, objects, spaces specific practice.
possessions, creations,
choices, and appearances.
55
INTERNATIONAL
ARTIST
Ai Weiwei: Sunflower Seeds – 2003
Subject Matter Influences Stylistic Characteristics
• Uses local materials and • Chinese antiquities like Neolithic • From traditional antique into
resources like reclaimed wood vases and Qing Dynasty furniture; seductive and thought-
from traditional Chinese houses porcelain from the imperial kilns in provoking contemporary art,
and temples. Jingdezhen, freshwater pearls, bricks, from convention to
tea, marble, stone, bamboo etc. transgression
• There is though nothing "Chinese"
about his works; rather his
international formal approach
often makes use of metaphoric
references, humour, puns, and
political irony, that redefines and
reconsiders the meaning of the
traditional into something new
56
VISUAL LITERACY: Example Questions
QUESTION 6: POST-1994 DEMOCRATIC IDENTITY IN SOUTH AFRICA
We live in a world where social media has a profound effect on the identity politics of South
Africa. What are the identity issues that you and/or your friends are grappling with at the
moment? Debate the statement by referring to THREE of FIGURES 6a–e. (10)
Identity politics: Refers to the engagement and debate around one's identity in terms of
religion, race, socio/background, class, and gender, etc
57
Candidates must justify their arguments by referring to the statement and any THREE of the
FIGURES 6a-6e.
Figure 6a: Is a contemporary and decorative graffiti artwork that includes styles such as
cartoons, Pop Art, and contemporary graphic design. The portrait of a young woman has scary,
penetrating eyes that create a hypnotic effect as if she can't stop her staring at people. She is
in the middle of a boldly patterned background with bright colours and patterns. She represents
the street culture of South-Africa as she has bright pink hair and wears modern patterned
clothing.
Figure 6b: The portrait a young person smiling shyly at the audience. The use of thread woven
on the face creates texture and represents pixels of a photograph. It seems as if the picture is
out of focus and hides the identity of the person. The face could be a male. The use of the
thread implies femininity and creates lacy drapes and patterns in the background. Identity is
often portrayed by how we look and how we dress and how other people see us. Current
problems experienced by youngsters are the unconditional acceptance by others on social
media and will do anything to hide their real appearance or soften the reality.
Figure 6c: A portrait of a contemporary male is shown against a colourful graffiti-like

background. The man is wearing a mask decorated with colourful rows of patterns which could
refer to the masks worn during the Covid-19 pandemic. The figure is also crowned which could
mean that he might be an important person or the kingpin of a street gang. The decorative
shapes and forms on his body could refer to tattoos or the influence of technology on modern
man.
Figure 6d: The artis uses family photographs and her memories to create miniature sculptures
of them. Some people identify or don't identify with their families and feel that they don't fit in.
The figures look serious and have no facial expressions. The sculptures appear like toys or dolls
to play with. The artwork is influenced by African sculptures.
Figure 6e: The Essop brothers portray themselves throughout the composition in both
traditional and modern clothing. They show themselves breaking their fast with Fast food
(MacDonald's and Coke) which is unusual in their culture. It shows the combination of their
tradition with western culture by breaking their fast at the beach and not at their home with their
families. This photomontage also has an unusual representation of a prayer mat at the beach
which is not conforming to traditional customs. The brothers are questioning their identity as
Muslim individuals in today's world.
58
POST 1994, DEMOCRATIC IDENTITY IN SOUTH AFRICA
Churchill Madikida Conrad Botes Husan and Husain Essop
Virus Pieta Five Pillars

Struggles of the heart Temptation to exist II The night before Eid
Discuss two Post 1994 South African artists, you have studied, on how they differed from
their International counterparts by referring to the following:
• Formal Art Elements

• Visual Appearance / Portrayal of Identity
• Placement / Actions / Symbolism of the figures
• Style and Techniques
• Media
• Possible meaning and messages
59
CHAPTER 7: GENDER ISSUES
MASCULINITY AND FEMININITY
Gender is not only the difference between man and woman. It includes the cultural and social
classification of masculinity and femininity.
Gender has to do with the individual identity of being a male or female.
Gender issues in society include:
§ LGBTQ
§ Gender inequality in the workplace/ societies
§ Gender stereotyping in media
§ Gender-based, domestic violence and child abuse
§ Abortion
§ Human trafficking
§ Child marriages, arranged marriages
§ Body image/ body shaming
§ Prostitution
Artist working the theme of Gender Issues

Study only 2
Penny Siopis Jane Alexander

South African artist South African
Frida Kahlo artist
Mexican Artist
Nandipha Mntambo Diane Victor

South African Artist South African Artist
Bearni Searle
South African Artist
Lisa Brice Mary Sibande

South African Artist South African Artist
60
Throughout art history, art focussed on the male artist and the female figure. This changed
when women gained the right to vote. Only after women were regarded as equals, they were
accepted as artists.
The feminist movement explored problems such as the female body. Feminists protested for
equal gender rights. The feminist movement explored the history of the roles of women in
society. For example, a common gender stereotype is when the woman in the household is
expected to cook, clean, and raise the children. Men are regarded as the breadwinners. They
are allowed to work and earn a salary. Feminist art is seen as the opposite of traditional male-
dominant art such as a painting of a nude woman.
Style and technique:
Artists who work with the idea of gender issues using different media/ mediums to convey the
message such as:
§ Painting/ printing/drawing
§ Performance art
§ Sculptures
§ Installations
§ Multimedia/new media
§ ready-mades
It is important to know that the concept or idea in this theme (Gender Issues) is more important
than the elements of art and design principles. The following media influenced the way the artist
makes art about gender issues.
Influences
DADA
• World war ONE

• Against traditional art and artmaking
• Rebel against logic and reason
• Reacted against tradition with Ready-mades and photomontage, found objects (previously
manufactured objects)
Ready-made – is an ordinary manufactured object such as a bicycle wheel. These ordinary objects were used to
create art.
Photomontage – is different photos which are pasted to create an artwork
In Contemporary Art – ready-mades are used in the form of an installation.
61
Ready-made Photomontage
Marcell Duchamp, Bicycle Wheel, 1913 Hannah Hoch, Cut with the Dada Kitchen Knife
Thethinklink.com through the Last Weimar-Beer-Belly Cultural Epoch
in Germany
Theartstrory.org
VISUAL LITERACY: Example questions
NEW MEDIA
CONCEPTUAL VIDEO AND INSTALLATION PERFORMANCE BODY LAND ART/
ART DIGITAL ART ART ART ART EARTH ART
• Traditional • Relies on • Is an • Live • Involves the • Artworks
characteristic moving arrangement presentation human body as created in
such as pictures of three- by artist medium nature
elements and • Consist out of dimensional • Related to • Natural
principles video and objects within theatre materials are
does not apply audio data a specific • Subject matter used
• Subject matter • Make use of space addressed is • Sometimes
and use of TVs, • Temporary – without a story introducing
media are the computers, broken down • Can include manufacture
most DVDs, internet after a painting, materials
important • Cameras, specific dialogue,
• Physical projectors are period poetry, dance,
objects like in used to stream • Subject lighting, or
paintings is or project the matter music
not important. video to be influenced by • Last for a few
The IDEA or viewed the concept minutes but
concept is the • Seen as an art • Media used can continue
most form of is unlimited – for many
important. communication can use any hours
• Words and to make the • Viewer can be
language message included.
became clear. • Can be
important. • Viewer can documented
be included through
photos or
video
62
QUESTION 7: GENDER ISSUES: MASCULINITY AND FEMININITY
Over the past few weeks, no fewer than 21 women and children have been murdered. Their
killers thought they could silence them. But we will not forget them and we will speak for them
where they cannot. Cyril Ramaphosa, 2020
When Penny Siopis created The Shame Series in 2002–2005, she highlighted issues of
abuse against women and children. Nowadays it is still a pressing issue in our society and
there are various ways in which artists make the public aware of these issues.
7.1 Discuss the statement above by referring to FIGURES 7a–7d. Consider the following:
The significance of
• the hands on the face
• Underwear on the pavement
• Shoes, etc.
• Colour
• Mood/Emotion, atmosphere, e.g. communication through eyes, material, media and
technique.
• Which of these examples, do you feel, has the greatest impact on drawing the public's
attention to gender-based violence? Give reasons for your answers. (10)
7.2 Write an essay on TWO artworks (ONE artwork per artist) that you have studied that
addresses gender issues in society. Name the artists and the titles of the artworks. (10)
Source: DBE NSC Visual art NOVEMBER 2021
63
64
The statement in the question refers to gender-based violence in South Africa. Penny
Siopis based her Shame Series on domestic violence against women. Look at the
images provided. With the statement from the President answer the questions. Clues
were given what we are looking at. The artworks in Fig. 7a-7d are based on violence
against women.
1. The significance of
§ the hands on the face

§ Underwear on the
pavement
§ Shoes, etc
2. Colour
Remember all answers must be in an essay. The table below summaries possible
answers and content:
FIGURES Hands on face Underwear Colour

Fig. 7a § Viewer is confronted § Underwear is arranged § Hands symbolise fear, pain,
with handprints over the in two lines on the and anger.
mouth and of victims. walkway/pavement § The bright turquoise blue
§ This strengthens the below the photographs. marble eyes stand out against
symbolism of the victims A pattern indicating the red
being silenced. household violence and § The turquoise blue eyes could
§ RED represents blood abuse become a represent the innocence of a
violence and physical behavioural pattern. child.
abuse a woman goes § Symbolise – woman
through daily. threw away- underwear
§ Command not to talk on the pavement.
about the rape and § White underwear can
abuse happening. also refer to innocence
§ Photographs of different lost
nationalities show that
the abuse is universal
and happens in all races
and all households.
§ All types of people will
be viewing the images
65
FIGURES Hands on face Underwear Colour
Fig. 7b § The painting reflects § The blood-red face the

two hands holding a (blood platter) is primarily
head. situated in the foreground
§ The expression is like and becomes the focal
that of Edvard Munch, point.
The Scream. § It suggests that the incident
§ Expression of fear, of abuse has recently
horror, shock, and happened
terror.
§ The hands cover the
ears to possibly block
out the sounds or
protect oneself from
hearing.
Fig. 7c
SHOES § variation of red on the
figures and a horizontal
band of writing against the
white background/ wall.
§ The scared child looks at
the viewer.
§ The Happy Father’s Day
stamp relates to a dearly
loved parent who in this
case might well be the
abuser.
Fig. 7d § Different types of shoes of red shoes (different

shades of red) that indicate the various status,
ages and occupations of women.
§ A single red boot is seen to be symbolic of the
struggle and violence leading to the loss of life.
§ The name of the person and the date of her
death has been inscribed on the boot as a
remembrance of her life.
§ The red boot represents a tombstone. The worn-
out shoes show the struggle and suffering of
women that worked hard to care for their families.
§ The Red shoes are the victim's personal items
representing all types of women across the world
§ The red shoes symbolise

death, blood, and violence.
§ The colour red relates to
love and passion but in this
case, it refers to violence.
3. Mood / Emotion,
atmosphere, e.g.,
communication through
eyes, material, media,
and technique 66
FIGURES Mood / Emotion, atmosphere, e.g., communication through eyes, material,
media, and technique
Fig. 7a § The mood is sad, disturbing, and evokes sad emotions from the viewer.
§ The eyes are tearing which shows the pain and suffering of these women.
§ The eyes on the far-right stare and show anger.
§ The first image portrays hurt.
Fig. 7b § The girl looks vulnerable, scared, defeated this is indicated by the hand gestures
and the eyes.
§ The hands are raised up with palms facing outwards like someone that has given
up, surrendered to the enemy.
§ The eyes look downwards to the left, not to make eye contact.
§ The splashes of blood shows violence and abuse.
§ The use of ink, wood glue on paper (found in the label information) adds to the realistic
effect of the blood on the artwork
Fig. 7c § The little girl appears emotionless and lifeless. This is shown by the twisted neck the
limp hands as well as the flat line (heart line that usually indicates death) in the
background horizontally.
§ The eyes that are rolled upward appear dead.
§ The blood spills and smears of it in the background indicates the serious act of
violence that she has suffered.
§ The atmosphere shows her surrounding as being abusive as the writing on the wall
indicates this by the following word: Happy Father’s Day. The image challenges the
message indicated. She is alone, isolated fragile, weak and a sense of emptiness.
Fig. 7d § The mood is sad due to the number of shoes that are included in the display.
§ The different red shoes add to the mood and the atmosphere as they represent
women, children and older people that are affected which has a direct impact on all
types of people that can easily relate to this
3. Which of these examples, § You must indicate which examples

do you feel, has the greatest YOU feel had the biggest impact on
impact on drawing the showing the problem to the public
public's attention to gender- § When a question requires an opinion,
it is important to explain your answer.
based violence? Give
§ Do not repeat any information.
reasons for your answers. § Always refer to specific examples to
strengthen your answer.
67
Gender Issues – Masculinity and Femininity
Choose any TWO artists and Two artworks each
Penelope Siopis Lisa Brice Mary Sibande
Melancholia The sex kitten series Long live the dead Queen
They don’t make them like

Patience on a moment Sex kitten – cheap cheap
they used to do
Sex kitten – you want to

Love Prosperity
have your cake and eat it
LEARNERS NOTES
68
CHAPTER 8: ARCHITECTURE IN SOUTH AFRICA
Architecture is the Art of Designing and Constructing buildings Architecture reflects a

specific period, place, culture, and organised space for humans to use.
CHARACTERISTICS
• The use of a variety of historical styles (Restraints of taste and careful application of
Classical standards) and
• The development of new materials and structural methods (because of the new
industrial needs)
STYLE AND TECHNIQUE
• The new ferrous building materials were made to conform to the taste for Classical,
medieval or other exotic styles (Brighton Pavilion); for example, the glass and iron vault
for Paddington Station by Brunel and Wyatt was supported on 'Gothic' columns.
• Gustav Eiffel designed the exhibition tower for Paris which bears his name and provided
the same form of publicity for the new material - steel.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND: THIS INCLUDED THE FOLLOWING MOVEMENTS
1. Art Deco: Popular style between the 1920’s and 1930’s. This fairly expensive style, seen mainly
in its styled, geometric, symmetric and decorative features of art an escape from the depressing
conditions after the First World War.
2. Modernism: Originated before world war referring to 20th-century architecture. It became the
style that was used worldwide, with the Modernist approach to architecture. They are cheap
buildings that could be erected quickly for the expanding urban development.
3. Bauhaus: The style features simple geometric shapes like rectangles and spheres, without
elaborate decorations. An appreciation of the evolving relationship between art and industry was
also key to the Bauhaus philosophy, which informed the use of modern materials and industrial
processes across its various creative subjects. The Bauhaus Dessau's most striking features are
its glass curtain walls, which wrap around corners and provide views of the building's interiors,
and its supporting structure. Among the advanced methods used in its construction were a
framework made from reinforced concrete and brick, large expanses of glazing, and flat roofs
covered with asphalt tiles that could be walked on.
4. Post Modernism: Embraced pluralism as it freely accepted and incorporated styles from the past.
Post-modern space is ambiguous and fragmented. It is more playful; colour and symbolism are
reintroduced to make the buildings and spaces more “people-friendly”.
5. Indigenous African Architecture: Mainly found in rural areas. Constructed with found / natural
materials. These structures use techniques that have been utilised for generations. African builders
developed indigenous engineering processes. They developed methods to move large
quantities of stone and other massive structures. (See Inxuluma image below)
69
EXAMPLES OF ARCHITECTURAL STRUCTURES
Walter Gropius: Bauhaus Dessau, Weimar School Inxuluma; grass; flat timber; loggs floor-
compressed cow dung; Kwazulu- Natal
Don Albert: Trumpet House Henning Rasmuss: Cape Town Stadium, 2010
70
VISUAL LITERACY
Example Questions
QUESTION 8: ARCHITECTURE IN SOUTH AFRICA
Patricia Piyani's lack of education inspired her to create an opportunity for proper education for the
children in her area. She founded Silindokuhle Preschool in Port Elizabeth which is constructed
from recycled and reclaimed materials. It was built by the community using local materials, such
as hardboard containers, wine bottles, wooden pallets, skateboards and plastic corrugated sheets,
and has been awarded a SAIA building innovation award for sustainable architecture.
Justify why the SAIA building innovation award for sustainable architecture was awarded to the
Silindokuhle Preschool by discussing the following:
• Use of materials
• Sustainability
• Functionality
• Design
• Building innovation(s) (8)
show or prove to be right or reasonable
71
Building
innovation/s
• The building design can be adopted
as the solution for the housing
problem in South Africa.
• This affordable plan can be erected

by the community.
• The structure can be maintained at
a low cost as materials can easily
be replaced.
• This building innovation will educate
people in the possibilities of using
Figure 8a: Collective Saga, Silindokuhle Pre-school,
Port Elizabeth, South Africa, 2018.
recycled or reclaimed materials.
Functionality
• The building functions well as a pre-
school that keep children warm and is a
safe place to start learning.
• Materials like glass bottles and a
corrugated plastic roof were used.
• It lets through daylight.
• The wooden structures and reclaimed
materials are warm, waterproof, and
sustainable.
• Reclaimed plastic crates function as
flower beds and vegetable gardens,
which can provide food for the children.
Figure 8c
Collective Saga, a view of the interior of the classroom.
Use of materials
Sustainability
• The reuse of existing structures motivates people to
• Coloured glass bottles allow light salvage/reclaim discarded materials.
into the building.
• It will have an impact on the environment as less waste
• The different colours create will end up in the soil and in the oceans.
reflective patterns of light within
the building. • Waste can often be upcycled to have a new function.
Plastic and glass bottles are easily accessible as these
• The bottles are used as a are the most found materials on rubbish dumps.
replacement for windows.
• Wooden pallets which are used to transport heavy
• Recycled glass and plastic are equipment are often discarded by companies but can
strong and durable and do not still be utilised as a functional building material.
require regular maintenance.
• Plastic and glass bottles are then filled with any found
• A building like this can withstand
objects, like paper, plastic bags, pieces of broken
extreme temperatures
matter, and sand. These are used as building
blocks/bricks. 72
Design
• It is a post-modernistic building
that consists of a curved
corrugated roof creating the
illusion of movement
• It is an open-plan design with a
lot of visible wooden pallets and
glass panels.
• Wooden frames and wooden
poles are not only decorative but
are also functional as it supports
the structure to the walls and the
roof.
• The slope of the corrugated
plastic roof allows for the
collection of rainwater.
• The water is used in turn to water
Figure 8b: Collective Saga, building process of
the fruit and vegetable gardens
as well as the lawns Silindokuhle Preschool
Activities
Try and answer the questions below
1. Discuss the influence of De Stijl movement, including examples of buildings and the names
of the founders.
• The significance of recycled material

• The advantages and disadvantages of using recycled materials
• Sustainability
• With reference to the following discuss any two other architectural examples that you have
studied that you have found to be truly innovative.
ü Stylistic Characteristics
ü Building and Construction methods
ü The Architect’s responsibility to the environment and sustainability
2. Provide a brief description of the Architectural Structures below:
Don Albert: Trumpet House
73
SECTION 3
74
VISUAL CULTURE STUDIES SUMMARIES
ARTISTS DISCUSSED
QUESTION 1 Emerging artists of South Gerard Sekoto, The song of the Pick; Gerard Sekoto, Prison Yard
Africa George Pemba, Portrait of a young Xhosa woman; George Pemba, Eviction – Woman
and Child
QUESTION 2 South African artists Irma Stern, Pondo Woman; Irma Stern, The Hunt
influenced by African and/or Walter Battiss, Fishermen Drawing Nets; Walter Battiss, Symbols of Life
indigenous art forms
QUESTION 3 Socio-political – including Jane Alexander, Butcher Boys; Jane Alexander, Bom Boys
Resistance art of the ’70s and Manfred Zylla, Bullets and Sweets; Manfred Zylla, Death Trap
’80s
QUESTION 4 Art, craft and spiritual works John Muafangejo. Judas Iscariot betrayed our Lord Jesus for R3.00
mainly from rural South John Muafangejo. New archbishop Desmond Tutu Enthroned
Africa Jackson Hlungwani. Large Crucifix and star; Jackson Hlungwani, Leaping Fish
QUESTION 5 Multimedia and New media – William Kentridge, Johannesburg, 2nd Greatest City after Paris
alternative contemporary and William Kentridge. Shadow Procession
popular art forms in South Van der Merwe, Biegbak/Confessional; Jan van der Merwe, Waiting
Africa
QUESTION 6 Post-1994 democratic identity Churchill Madikida, Struggles of the heart; Churchill Madikida,Status
in South Africa Hasan and Husain Essop, Thornton Road; Hasan and Husain Essop, Pit Bull Training
QUESTION 7 Gender issues Penelope Siopis, Patience on a monument; Penelope Siopis, Shame
(Choose two artists) Mary Sibande, ‘They don’t make them like they used to do’
Mary Sibande, Conversation with Madame C.J. Walker
Lisa Brice, Sex Show Works; Lisa Brice, Plastic makes perfect
Jane Alexander, Stripped (“Oh Yes” Girl)
QUESTION 8 Architecture in South Africa Not included in these summaries.
75
QUESTION 1: EMERGING ARTISTS OF SOUTH AFRICA
GLOSSARY:
• Apartheid was the policy of the National Party who came to power in South Africa in 1948. The idea was that different races
should be kept separate. Before 1948 – segregation between the races)
• Township art term used to describe the works of black artists that painted township life in South Africa. E.g. shebeens,
church, etc. It shows how the black population adapted to urbanisation.
Historical Context:
• In 1989 the Johannesburg Art Gallery presented an exhibition of black South African artists to the public called – The
Neglected Tradition: Towards a new history of South African art (1930 – 1988). During apartheid, there was very little written
about the art of black people. This was an important exhibition to change perceptions and to see a more represented history of
South African art.
76
GERALD SEKOTO (1913 – 1993)
Background Subject Matter / Themes Influences
• From Sophiatown but stayed • Urban scenes of everyday • His surroundings in South Africa
in District Six (Cape Town) life in the townships – the vibrancy of the townships
and Eastwood, Pretoria. • Figure compositions and such as Sophiatown and District
• In 1947, Sekoto moved to portrai Six.
Paris, France. He wanted to • A detailed and loving • Post-Impressionism. An intuitive
broaden his artistic documentation of people sense of colour links his work
experience rather than as a and places he lived in with Post-Impressionism
political exile, although the .
injustices of the racial MEDIA: Mainly oil paintings
situation played a role.
• He never returned to South
Africa. He was not very
happy in Paris (France)
Stylistic Characteristics Issues that his work raises

• Figurative; highly subjective colours create an emotional • Paintings often do not show the harsh reality of life in the townships
impact show the exploration of formal elements.
• Shapes have a roundness and solidity; Love for patterns, i.e., • Idealised view of these communities
the sink roofs portrayed with parallel lines. • work is not politically driven, although he shows sympathy for his
• Distortion and his often clumsy subjects and their circumstances.
• Unusual perspective: His figure compositions do not show • His work documents areas of South Africa that no longer exist and
detail forms an important historical record of life in Sophiatown and District
• Emotional response/created a strong atmosphere. Six.
• One of the pioneers of black art in South Africa and one of the first to
make a living from his art.
77
GEORGE PEMBA (1912 – 2001)
Background Subject Matter / Themes Influences

Pemba was born in 1912 in a Portraits and group portraits, European styles such as
village near Port Elizabeth, social documentation, religious Realism – his portrayal of the
Eastern Cape. works, and protest works. poor in the townships in a
naturalistic way
He received his school Pemba painted some Eastern-
education in Paterson, Eastern Cape landscape, man was his Impressionism - the fleeting
Cape. most important theme. moment and Expressionism -
subjective use of colour and
Obtained his teacher’s New Brighton and its people, distortion in some works.
qualification at the Lovedale where he spent most of his life,
Teacher’s College in Alice, inspired a large part of his work. MEDIA: Watercolours, oil
Eastern Cape. paintings
Pemba can be seen as a self-

trained artist having only brief
contacts with formal art training.
Stylistic Characteristics Issues that his work raises

A strong feeling for shape in his work - solid with weight, descriptive, Underlying themes/issues such as fear, flight, joy, loss of everyday
simplified, and with expressionist distortion. life, cultural traditions, human right, religion and political subjects
Early watercolour works show subtle descriptive colours. In later His work gives an interesting view of the changes in South Africa –
works, there are large colour contrasts with sharp contrasts between the traditional rural tribal life replaced by urbanisation, as well as
light and dark. political injustices.
Primary and secondary colours together with white areas are In his work one gets a feeling of togetherness between people – a
characteristic of his works. society that stands together although they are suffering.
78
GERARD SEKOTO – EXAMPLES OF ARTWORK
Subject and description Message and Meaning
Figure composition. The One of Sekoto’s most political works

Style of work
subject is a group of black
Figurative
workers with their picks, while a Contrast between the physical
white pipe-smoking warden powers of the workers with the
watches them. weakness of the white warden.
Medium and
Technique All the focus is on the workers The work shows that the black
Oil painting with with their identical postures workers, although subordinated to
strong brushstrokes with their picks high above their the white boss, are the stronger
heads. figures.
The title is suitable – the viewer can

Title nearly ‘hear’ the song of the pick in
Gerard Sekoto, The this visual work.
song of the Pick, oil
painting, 1946 – 47
Formal Art Elements
Sekoto simplified shapes

The black figures form a strong diagonal line.
The colour is predominantly in primary colours – red, yellow, and blue.
The emotional impact of this work is the result of his highly subjective colours.
79
GERARD SEKOTO – EXAMPLES OF ARTWORK
Subject And Description Message and Meaning
Style of work Figure composition. Sekoto lived In this work he explores the
Figurative with Mrs Manuel in a house facing psychological difference between the
the Roeland Street jail which prisoners and the guard.
provided inspiration for this work. A
group of prisoners walk under the The prisoners are squashed
Medium and control of a prison guard. together with their arms close to their
Technique bodies, while the guard strides with
Oil painting with open legs.
strong brushstrokes
Everything about the prisoners is
Title captive – their postures, clothes, and
Gerard Sekoto, the close group they form – in
Prison Yard, oil, contrast with the freedom and
1944 openness of the guard.
Formal Art Elements
In the composition the figures fill the canvas and only on the right hand is a suggestion of a landscape with the mountains.
Sekoto’s work shows distortion.
His shapes have a roundness and solidity.
Diagonal lines create the composition with the prisoners and railing on the right-hand side.
There are no open spaces to escape to and everything focuses on the group of figures.
He uses mainly primary colours.
He explores repetition of form and contrasts the prisoners effectively with the guard.
80
GEORGE PEMBA – EXAMPLES OF ARTWORK
Subject And Description Message and Meaning

Style of work
Figurative with A woman with her child is in The title tells us this is the story of
expressionistic the middle of a landscape an eviction. The woman has been
characteristics with houses. She is sitting forced to leave her home and she
between her possessions – is sitting with her meager
Medium and Technique table, chair, a broom, etc. possessions, holding her baby. She
Oil paint on board, looks sad and is unsure of what the
definite brushstrokes future will hold.
The winding road is symbolic of the

Title journey she must make. This is a
George Pemba, Eviction typical South African ‘story’ and tells
– Woman and Child, oil of our history of forced removals
on board, 1992 and how the poor must suffer.
Formal Art Elements
The woman with the baby is the focal point in this composition.
The winding road leads the eye to the houses at the top.
There is distortion e.g. the perspective of the house on the left is exaggerated, etc.
There are a lot of sharp shapes in the work such as in the furniture which helps to create an unhappy feeling.
There is perspective in the small houses in the back against the larger figure and objects in the front.
The colours are life-like, except in the sky where the orange is exaggerated.
The orange in the sky is picked up in the shawl of the baby.
The brushstrokes are clearly seen and speak of emotion.
81
GEORGE PEMBA – EXAMPLES OF ARTWORK
Subject and Description Message and Meaning

Style of work
Naturalism A portrait of a young Xhosa woman "My objective is to interpret the
in traditional dress. She tilts her feeling of my people". In his early
head and looks past the viewer. works, he documented the
traditional and rural life of the Xhosa
Medium and Technique
people.
Watercolour: the smooth
blending of the colours to
He treats the woman with dignity
create the different shapes
and one can see she is proud of her
and tonal values. (His early
heritage.
works were done in
watercolours – a cheap
He also gives a record of traditional
medium.)
customs.
Title Pemba also gives a psychological

George Pemba, Portrait of a insight and an understanding of
young Xhosa woman, oil on personality – she was a real
board, 1992 person.
Formal Art Elements
The woman forms the focal point in this painting. The bare arm leads the viewer to her face.
Pemba lovingly describes her clothes and beadwork in detail.
It is in the style of a typical naturalistic European portrait.
The figure forms a strong vertical shape in the work.
The use of tonal values creates rounded shapes.
There is a variety of very dark areas and very light highlights.
The colours are all in earth tones that give a warm glow to the portrait.
The white of her dress stands out against the yellow shawl.
The background is a flat area with a strong shadow casted by the figure
82
QUESTION 2: SOUTH AFRICAN ARTISTS INFLUENCED BY AFRICAN AND/OR INDIGENOUS ART FORMS
Africa’s influence on Western art: The ‘discovery’ of traditional African art - such as sculptures and masks - played a major role in the development of
Modernist Western Art in movements such as Fauvism, German Expressionism and Cubism.
South African art draws from indigenous and African art: The indigenous arts and African art had an enormous impact on the work of South African
artists. This influence ranges from ancient Egypt to Bushmen (San) art that would influence South African art since 1950. This influence was not only
about subject matter, but also a stylistic impact regarding line, shapes, etc. These artists looked deeply into their place of birth and identified with its
African persona. Art for them became a dialogue with Africa. Inspiration came from indigenous art traditions.
83
IRMA STERN
Background Influences Subject matter/themes Issues that her works raises / her
contribution
Irma Stern, the daughter of German- Stern was strongly influenced by Themes: Stern painted mainly portraits
Jewish parents, was born at Schweizer- German Expressionism. and figure studies, as well as some Stern was one of our most important
Reinecke in the Western Transvaal. She Afrika: Stern travelled widely in Africa landscapes and still lives. Certain pioneers who brought SA art in line with
returns to Germany in 1913 to study art and an important part of her subject themes recur throughout her lifetime in modernism through her personal,
and is caught in Germany for the matter was the portrayal of the ingenious all her work: fertility, women, and rituals subjective expressionism. Initially her
duration of World War 1. She returned people. like marriage mother and child themes work met with hostility, for the public in
to South Africa in 1920 and started to Africa was an important inspiration with harvest and harvesters, abundant still South Africa was used to naturalistic
exhibit annually. the people in their colourful gear, the lives. Stern’s work is mainly concerned portrayals. She was one of our first
“barbaric” landscape, the tropical plants, with people and her love for exotic artists to portray Africa. Although her
the abundance of fruit and flowers and surroundings she experienced in her viewpoint was still colonial, she was in
above all, the sun. travels. love with the exotic ‘strangeness’ of
Africa. She, however, never showed
MEDIA: Mainly oil paintings poverty or other social issues in her
romantic portrayals of Africa
Stylistic Characteristics
The painting was an inner necessity for

her and she showed through strong
expressionism her feelings on her
subjects. Stern tried to capture the
essence of a subject and detail was of
lesser importance. Her style was for
quick, spontaneous, and direct
paintings.
Space: Her canvases are crowded with

little open spaces. Brush work: Stern
used loose, expressionistic
brushstrokes, initially she worked in a
strong impasto, but towards the end of
her life the application became thinner.
Colour: Colour is the main element in
her work and she uses strong
expressionistic colour to portray her
feelings.
84
Subject Description Message and Meaning
A portrait -an indigenous Stern was one of the first SA artists to

Style of work woman is portrayed as she portray Africa. Although her viewpoint
Expressionistic thoughtfully sits and thinks as if was still colonial, she was in love with
daydreaming. The woman is the exotic ‘strangeness’ of Africa. She,
wearing a traditional dress. The however, never showed poverty or other
figure does not resemble social issues in her romantic portrayals
anyone. of Africa.
Medium and The woman looks down. This She was not like a Picasso stylistically
Technique creates a barrier between her influenced by Africa but used it as
Oil painting with strong and the viewer which obscures source material. In the new democratic
brushwork and rich her personality, contributing to dispensation, the same critics refer to
colours. the stereotypical rendition of her work as racist because she showed
the woman. indigenous people as ‘types’ e.g. the
almond-shaped eyes, and not as
Subject is placed in the centre individuals. But her phenomenal power
of the composition, like as a painter makes her one of our most
traditional Western portraiture. valuable painters.
influence is seen in the She also united the two worlds of
Title combination of (nude) figures Europe and Africa in her work. But
Irma Stern, Pondo and lush landscapes. differently from artists such as Gauguin
Woman, oil on canvas, she did not totally identify with the
1929. indigenous lifestyle but kept her
European colonial outlook to Africa (she
was an outsider finding Africa
fascinating.) and made no attempt to
penetrate the spiritual psyche of these
people
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IRMA STERN, PONDO WOMAN
Formal Art Elements
The female figure dominates the composition.

Expressive exaggeration of her eyes, nose, mouth, and the shape of her face.
Behind the figure the dark foliage, entangled creepers and tree trunks surrounding her place her within a jungle-like environment that
cannot be linked to any specific place.
Warm reds, yellows and browns that contrast with the cooler colours in the background. Colour was used to portray her feelings. The colour
evokes emotions, rather than describes objects.
The canvas is crowded with little open spaces for the viewer to escape in.
Brushstrokes are lively and the work conveys a joy of life Expressionist brushstrokes are typical of a spontaneous and passionate painter.
The work was painted in a simplified style and is expressionistic with an emphasis on brushstrokes and emotional colours.
Strong defined dark outlines and loose brushstrokes are clearly visible –
Spirit of a subject and detail was of lesser importance.mine-dumps and slime-dams, pylons and power cables etc. In his work nature is
vulnerable to man. Eckstein is the archetypal capitalist, but his tunnel vision regarding the world outside seems emblematic of a social
order which is on the verge of disintegrating from within.
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Style of work
Group portrait. A group of tribal No real meaning but shows
Expressionistic
figures is set in a lush jungle her fascination and love for
landscape. Africa.
Oil paint which she applied The painting was a product of She did not, however,
with a brush or knife [impasto- her journey to Swaziland and considered the social, political,
thickly applied paint]. Natal during the 1920′s. A and economic implications of
group of hunters are preparing their situations.
for a hunt.
Details are exaggerated and
All of them are either naked or stylised to create an ideal
Title
just wearing a loincloth. image of a “noble savage”
Irma Stern, Pondo Woman,
Stylised hunting dogs are in the according to the colonial view
oil on canvas, 1926.
foreground. of her time.
Formal Art Elements

The figures and animals are idealised and stylised.
This distortion resembles the angularity found in African sculptures and masks.
The composition is busy and almost bursting at the edges of the frame. A feeling of activity is created by the use of lots of angular lines often
intersecting with each other, e.g. angular diagonal lines which create movement.
Although there is a feeling of depth in the painting, the perspective is distorted as there is little difference between foreground and background space.
The colours do not become less vibrant in the background and some figures in the background are out of proportion in relationship with each other on
the particular plane of depth.
The use of colour gives a feeling of joy and excitement. There is a strong contrast between the red-brown bodies and greens of the background. Loosely
applied brushstrokes creating, expressive marks
She outlines the figures in a blue-black colour, as did the Post-Impressionists.
The shadows are also heavily accentuated so that it almost becomes part of the pattern.
The area of focus appears to be the three figures in the foreground. (The white dogs lead the eye to them.)
The overall impression of the painting is one of vibrant colours and pattern, but one does not feel any emotions in the subjects, and they almost appear
like bored models posing for a fashion shoot.
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WALTER BATTISS: EXAMPLES OF WORK

Style of work
Stylised / abstracted
In this work there are also The title of the work tells the story
pictographs and abstract shapes behind the work. It also
that cover the whole surface. It is a celebrates life and pays homage
very linear work where figures to the heritage of our first artists.
representing people, animals, This is an example of one of
Medium and Technique reptiles and termites are stylized Battiss’ conceptual interpretations
Neat, smooth finish and the lack into simplified and original of what he learned from rock art.
of tonal values shapes. In it he did not copy rock art but
created a personalised symbolic
The title provides a clue to possible system that tells about Battiss’
meanings. A river divides the ideas about life and spirituality. It
painting in two. It is the symbolic is a typical work by Battiss in its
story of the river and the varied life mystery and symbolism.
that it sustains. The river is a
Title magical or godlike power. The
Walter Battiss, Symbols of Life, middle shape could also be seen
oil on canvas, undated as a cross-section of an anthill or
the scales of reptiles.
Formal Art Elements
Battiss, at that stage, was very interested in Middle Eastern calligraphy and the shapes in the painting became free interpretations of this.
The work is flat, decorative and the shapes are red brown on a cream background, while the river is in ochre and brown.
Silhouetted symbolic motifs are spread all over the white picture plane. The arrangement of these shapes is very controlled, leaving an even distance
between each of them. A quarter from the bottom of the canvas a bold horizontal organic shape divides the evenly arranged symbols in two opposing
sides.
These motifs represent an organic version of some living being: people, jackals, elephants, insects, butterflies and antelope are some of the creatures that
are recognizable.
The work has an organic feeling because of the fact that it is not geometrically placed, which is a similarity to rock paintings. His use of earthy colours
reinforces the connection with rock art.
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WALTER BATTISS: EXAMPLES OF WORK
Style of work Subject Description Message and Meaning

Stylised / abstracted
A naturalistic scene of the daily Battiss’ choice of subject
task of a group of African matter connects with his
people. It is most probably a interest in cultures other than
Medium and Technique scene that he witnessed and his own as can be seen in
Neat, smooth finish and recreated in an expressive many of his more realistic
the lack of tonal values style works. His version of what he
saw focuses our attention on
the responsibilities of daily
living and like the San he
Title shows the bigger picture of
Walter Battiss, Symbols the community, from a
of Life, oil on canvas, distance.
undated
Formal Art Elements

Here he created an imaginative composition based on the motifs of San Rock art. People are shown as black schemes and not in detail.
Typical of his work is that he does not try to show depth, but that all the action of the fishermen takes place on a relatively flat area. The black
fishermen with their actions fill the whole canvas; the nets are red and orange half-moons with the fishes schematically shown. Between these forms is
the sharp blue water.
It is related to the Fauvists in the sense that he used bright contrasting colours and loose brushstrokes. The Fauvists’ decorative composition can also
be seen in the rhythmic spread of figures in combination with the diagonal curved shapes of the fishing nets.
The body postures of the simplified figures reflect the movement of their labour. The people are represented as anonymous silhouettes that are
reminiscent of the figures as represented by the San in their rock paintings. He adopted the use of large, flat areas of colour with little or no indication
of perspective or modelling from San art. Also, his eliminating of detail and adoption of the thin elongated figure which is the African symbol of man.
Typical of this type of work is the crudeness and directness of his paint application.
Even though the figures are simplified, Battiss’ interpretation of their actions appears naturalistic and based on experience.
The blackness of the figures contrasts starkly with the background in which the loose brushstrokes create the feeling of the movement of water and the
abundance of fish caught in the nets. Linear effects of calligraphic marks can be seen in his handling of the squirming fish.
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QUESTION 3: SOCIO-POLITICAL ART, INCLUDING RESISTANCE ART OF THE ’70S AND ’80S
Art is a powerful means to critise unjust political systems. Art has the important function as social protest to make people aware of the injustices in
society.
Most South African art before 1976 was non-political. Artists painted and sculpted landscapes, still-lives, figure studies and abstract works mainly
following European or American tendencies. In 1948 the National Party under D.F. Malan came to power and racial segregation (now called Apartheid)
became official policy. Many laws were passed to enforce the policy of separate development of the races, such as the Prohibition of mixed marriages
Act, Group Areas Act, Bantu Education Act, etc. black people had to carry a passbook at all times. By 1960 there were strong anti-pass campaigns.
This led to the Sharpville incident in 1960 where 69 were killed and 178 were wounded. The ANC and PAC were banned and the international
community turned its back on South Africa. Nelson Mandela adopts the armed struggle. In 1963 he and others were charged at the Rivonia trial and
Mandela was sent to Robben Island.
The art after the 1976 Soweto-riots are called Resistance art in its resistance against apartheid.
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QUESTION 3: SOCIO-POLITICAL ART – INCLUDING RESISTANCE ART OF THE ’70S AND ’80S
Background Influences Subject Matter / Themes
She studied Fine Art at the The unjust political situation in Alexander is a sculptor whose
University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa of Apartheid and work is figurative and always
where she obtained the MA Fine activities. This had a huge related to the human figure. Her
Art degree in 1988. Alexander influence on her. Although sculptures are modeled from the
has won numerous awards for Alexander has never called human form, but she also casts
her work. She lives in Cape herself a political artist because straight from the human body.
Town and lecturers at the she sees protest art as too
Michaelis School of Fine Arts in specific, she has created some During the creative process
Cape Town. of the most lasting images of foreign materials and found
resistance art such as The objects such as bone, horns,
Jane Alexander (1959) Butcher Boys. etc., are introduced. She makes
use of a variety of materials
such plaster, bone, horns, wood,
wax and paint.
Stylistic Characteristics International acclaimed
She often creates hybrids by combining human bodies with the heads In her early works in the 1980’s she explored violence in the
of baboons, and other creatures to give animal characteristics to the extremely violent period in South African history. Her work is both
human figures. In this mixture of man and beast, Alexander forces the about the perpetrators and violence. She works from a personal
viewer to re-think human behavior. She also explores the ambiguous perspective of being a white woman in South Africa and does not
nature of violence. The opposite of violence is vulnerability. When a pretend to understand the suffering of political victims. Her work is
society feels unsafe people are often both victims and aggressors. not a documentation of our past or present, but rather an allegorical
image of suffering and violence.
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He arrived in South Africa in 1970 Zylla’s earliest memories of Nazi Many of his works have the theme
and married his second wife, Aziza Germany and the Second World of the effect of living in the
Allie, a Muslim woman. At the time it War with its fear and bombings, has brutalized society of South Africa on
was illegal for a white man to marry shaped his consciousness of the young. Zylla said that he was
a woman of colour and this gave injustices. In South Africa he was afraid for the safety of his own two
him an insight into the social climate highly critical of apartheid in his daughters, because there was/is so
in South Africa. He was a lecturer resistance works. He was also much violence against children.
and organizer at the Community influenced by the German legacy of
Arts Project (CAP) in Woodstock graphic and satiric skills in the works
and was very involved in the of artists such as George Grosz,
Resistance struggle. Zylla lives Max Beckman and Otto Dix..
partly in Germany and partly in
Cape Town.
Manfred Zylla (1939 - )
He is maybe best known for working in printmaking and drawing. The feeling Zylla has always been a politically and socially aware artist as a committed
of his drawings often reminds us of newspaper photos. Zylla do not want to socialist. His art became his tool to show the inequalities and the atrocities
create pretty pictures, but to make one conscious of the shortcomings and experienced by people living under the effects of apartheid. Zylla has
injustices in society. always been committed to using art as a tool for change and believes that
artists should fight injustices.
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Subject Description
Their seated position shows passiveness, and it is almost as if they are
waiting for something. They seem nervous and aware simultaneously.
Only their eyes reveal humanity - dark and glassy, hollow and haunting
Three life-size and life-like plaster figures, naked except for coverings over
their genitals, sit on a wooden bench. Although they are very masculine, their
gender is unknown because their genitalia are covered (or sealed) by the
same sort of protection that cricketers wear.
The figures seem powerful but their bodies have been penetrated and
damaged. Bone has been inserted into the “flesh” and “flesh” has been
scraped away to reveal the bone.
The heads are only half-human. Horns grow out of skulls; the faces are
distorted and flattened into snouts that do not open into mouths. Quite literally,
Jane Alexander, Butcher Boys, they cannot speak the unspeakable or communicate with the voice of reason.
plaster, paint, bone, horns, wooden bench, 1985 – 6 They also have impaired hearing since their ears are holes
Message and Meaning

The Butcher Boys is Alexander’s best known piece and has become an iconic work of the resistance struggle in South Africa. It arises from a sense of
horror at the increasingly repressive and brutal measures used by the apartheid government to quell the violence of the 1980’s in South African society.
This work has become a symbol of institutionalized violence, such as the Security Police who were involved in the death of Steve Biko, the Black
Consciousness Leader. Their title (butcher boys) says that they are executioners or violent killers of some sort. What is it that has turned these once-
humans into beasts? The theme of this work is the symbolic relationship between oppressor and victim. Alexander seeks to identify the manner in which
violence, aggression, cruelty and suffering are conveyed through the human figure. The violent, aggressive and powerful characteristics are shown in the
same body that reveals helplessness. Alexander has said that the alter ego of aggression is vulnerability. She continued by saying that those who are
secure and unthreatened do not need to bully, but when an entire society is insecure, all its members become both aggressors and victims. The
association with death is created by the use of bones and skulls. In this way these figures that committed unspeakable violence are also often victims of
violence. As “butcher boys” the figures are capable of butchering, but as naked forms they are the equivalents of meat in a butcher shop. Although they
were created in a specific oppressive South African historical time, they have transcended it and maybe their power lies in the fact that they touch our
humanity deeply. Would we also become like them if we were forced to commit acts of violence and abuse?
Style of work Medium and Technique

The bodies are naturalistic, but the combination with animal qualities creates surreal Sculpture and found objects. They have been made from plaster casts taken from
figures life, with the insertion of bone, horns, etc.
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Message and Meaning
The work was inspired by street children and raises many questions in the viewer. Are they
children at a masquerade, nine small men physically arrested in boyhood? Are they vulnerable
and endearing, or are they gangsters in the making? We know the desperate situation of street
children and feel compassion for their plight. At the same time they are also strong, aggressive
which makes them threatening. Have the baby brothers of the Butcher Boys, damaged,
masked and mutating survived to become the street citizens of South Africa?
There is ambiguity in the expression of these small children. They are self-possessed, swagger
a little and yet allude to the powerless social position of a child on the street. It is a frightening
vision of street children, their struggle for survival and the mechanisms they must use to survive
Jane Alexander, Bom Boys, fiberglass, clothing, like stray animals in a dangerous urban jungle. The ashen colour is suggestive of their death of
oil paint, wood, synthetic clay, 1998. childhood and also their ‘invisibility’ to society.
Subject Description
The Bom Boys consists of nine life-sized sculptures of small boys, some with animal masks. They are arranged atop a checkerboard grid with each boy
utterly disconnected from the other children, even though many figures stand just inches apart. Each child seems lost and bewildered creating a disturbing
vision of a world without interpersonal connection.
Formal Art Elements
The figures stand upright with their feet slightly apart, arms gently extended from their sides and with their palms facing outward in a non-threatening body
language that, coupled with their diminutive size, suggests they are caring.
Despite being cast from the same mould the figures are distinguished from one another by their various stages of dress or undress: one is stark naked
except, absurdly, for his polished black shoes, while another is shirtless but wears shorts. All of the figures have their faces obscured to varying degrees by
an unsettling animal mask (rabbit, bird and cat), a blindfold or a cloth.
This installation gains a more somber tone when the viewer realises the vulnerable figures are not just randomly grouped but are instead positioned in a
game such as chess.
The pale grey colour renders them like ghosts.

The bodies are naturalistic, but the combination with animal qualities creates Sculpture and found objects
surreal figures
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Zylla used these events to create a This diptych refers to peculiar desire of
powerful diptych. the leaders of the South African Defense
The right panel is dominated by a force to be loved by the township children
brawny soldier with a half-smile on in spite of the army’s usually monstrous
his face. He is viewed from under behaviour towards them. Every now and
and is a huge presence as looks then the army would send a Casspir full of
down the barrel of his gun. soldiers into the townships not to hand out
the usual retribution (shooting, beating up
The row of bullets emerged from and arresting people), but to distribute
his crotch. In his bag a Cape Dutch leaflets to the people reading, ‘We are your
homestead and a sausage on the friends' or to play a game of soccer, or to
fork appears as reference to his hand out sweets. Of course, on such
heritage. The soldier is however not occasions the press is welcomed to report
shooting bullets, but rather sweets in the next day’s newspapers.
which lie at the feet of a small group Zylla critised apartheid in this work by
Title of township children showing the atrocities experienced by
Manfred Zylla, Bullets and Sweets, pencil and watercolour, 1985 people living under the effects of
apartheid.
Naturalistic Pencil drawing with careful rendering of the forms in light and dark.
Formal Art Elements
These children in the left hand panel are terrified and bewildered by this ominous presence of the soldier and are ignoring the sweets. They are shielding
themselves against anticipated blows and are ready to run away.
The sweets are also seen at the top and form a type of frame for the scene. A row of army vehicles is seen at the top right.
The soldier in this work portrays a sense of detachment as he performs his duties, in comparison to the very expressive faces of the school children.
There is a fairly naturalistic depiction of figures, but with a distorted viewpoint especially as seen in the figure of the soldier.
There is a strong contrast of monochromatic tones. T
The use of the diptych also implies that the soldier and the children come from two different worlds linked only by the sad reality of the gun. The
overwhelming effect as similar to a newspaper photograph which is enforces by the use of text.
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Zylla used these events to create a In October 1985, heightened tensions

Style of work powerful diptych. between anti-apartheid demonstrators
Naturalistic The right panel is dominated by a and police came to a head in the Cape
brawny soldier with a half-smile Town suburb of Athlone. Eleven days
on his face. He is viewed from after the government declared a state of
under and is a huge presence as emergency in other parts of the country,
looks down the barrel of his gun. police hid in the back of a truck. They
The row of bullets emerged from knew that the vehicle will be stoned. As
Medium and Technique his crotch. In his bag a Cape the first stone reached the truck, they
Pencil drawing with careful Dutch homestead and a sausage fired directly into a crowd of about a
rendering of the forms in on the fork appears as reference hundred people. Three boys were killed,
light and dark. to his heritage. The soldier is and thirteen others were injured. Due to
however not shooting bullets, but the way the police hid in the crates on the
rather sweets which lie at the feet truck, the incident would become known
of a small group of township as the Trojan Horse Massacre. The
children. youngest boy who died was Michael
Title Miranda, 11year old relative of Zylla’s
Manfred Zylla, Death wife. The boy and his friends were on
Trap, pencil on paper, their way to the shops when this
1985. happened.
The work tells us of the atrocities that
happened during Apartheid.
Formal Art Elements
A block-like image is illustrated below the truck on top of the black figures. The blocked image shows a drawing of Michael Miranda with only his head
visible. The drawing was done from photographs Zylla took at the funeral.
Zylla uses the diptych format to distinguish between the perpetrators in the top and the victims below.
The scratchy mark making of his pencil helps to create a feeling of discomfort in the viewer.
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QUESTION 4: ART, CRAFT AND SPIRITUAL WORKS MAINLY FROM RURAL SOUTH AFRICA
Background Influences
Muafangejo grew up in rural southern Angola where his Rorke’s Drift where artists such as
father was a Kwanyama chief. After his father passed Azaria Mbatha developed his artistic
away his mother, who was one of his eight wives, left for ability and preference for linocut as a
Namibia and converted to Christianity. The 12 year-old medium. His work is similar to cartoons
John found it very upsetting to leave the kraal where he in the way the surface is often divided
grew up, but he also wanted to live with his mother. His into blocks and his use of text.
talent for drawing was noticed and it was suggested that
he should study further in art.
Muafangejo studied at the Rorke’s Drift Art and Craft

Subject Matter / Themes
Centre from 1968 to 1969. He returned to Namibia in
His works included a variety of subject
1970 where he practiced as an artist and returned to
matter. It reflects his state of mind and
Rorke’s Drift in 1974 as practicing artist. Eventually he
his daily experiences, like a diary. It
was able to build himself a house in Katatura near
includes the following categories: tribal
Windhoek due to his successes as an artist. From 1969
life, animal life, observations on social
until his untimely death in 1986 he participated in many
conditions, historical events, church life,
exhibitions in South Africa and the rest of the world.
biblical stories and personal life.
John Muafangejo (1943 – 1987)
He is known almost entirely as a printmaker; especially of linocuts, a relative In a relatively short working career, he produced an impressive body
inexpensive medium that can be printed without a press. He told stories in black- of work which has influenced generations of printmakers in Southern
and-white. Many of his prints are of an autobiographical nature and refer to Africa. He produced work which comments with subtlety and insight
dramatic or humorous incidents in his life. The figures in the story are placed over on the world around him, such as the repressive regime at the time,
the page in a shallow space. Text in his work, at times becomes so important that and he often used Zulu and Ovambo history to provide an indirect
the print resembles a page from a medieval illuminated manuscript. comment in this regard.
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Born in Nkanyani, Gazankulu, in the northern African sculpture, a mix of His choice of subject matter
Transvaal. In 1978 a visionary event Tsonga heritage and was guided by his spiritual
occurred that which changed his life. symbolism and Christian beliefs and was used as part
According to him Satan shot arrows through both religious motifs. His of his sermons to teach and
of his legs which caused abscesses on each leg. combination of traditional explain his ideas. He
He decided to kill himself. It was during this night, elements with his Christian explained his sculptures as
that he claims to have been visited by Christ who beliefs resulted in his own the communication of Christ
gave him a triple promise – he would be healed, spiritual philosophy. These and the ancestors through
he would become a healer himself and he would ideas are also the source of him. Opposites such good/
see God pass by. He became a preacher, starting the images and the evil, male/female, up/down,
his own sect in the Zionist tradition. In Mbhokota, inspiration for his black/white, Christ/Satan,
a rural village near Elim in north-western sculptures. He was a Cain/Abel, new world/old
Gazankulu, he became Xidonkani, the Little charismatic spiritual leader, world are often depicted. His
Donkey, the mount that brought the Virgin Mary to a healer and an artist. He subject matter ranges from
Bethlehem. On a hill, atop which was an Iron Age did not produce art for spoons, sticks and bowls to
site, he and his small band of followers began commercial purposes but altars, thrones and
building what he called New Jerusalem, a as an expression of his monumental fish, as well as
Jackson Hlungwani (1923 - 2010) sanctuary with built two altars, one for women vision from God. other Christian-derived figures
and one for men, which he embellished with such as Adam and Eve
figurative sculptures. figures and lions.

Characteristics of traditional African art in the distortions of proportions and abstractions of In 2005 the Department of Arts and Culture declared him a
form to reflect emotional proportion. Many of his sculptures have strong angular edges to “living legend”. He is important for his unique vision in his
forms, with simplified features, such as the angular features as lips, eyes, and nose. Much work. Since 1995, an entire room in the Johannesburg Art
of the original shape of the tree trunks has been retained in his sculptures. Only hand Gallery has been dedicated to Hlungwani’s work, and his
tools were used, as there was no electricity where he lived – adzes and axes to create the work can be found in numerous galleries and collections
broad general shapes, chisels for details and marking patterns, and sandpaper to smooth both in South Africa and abroad.
out some of the rough edges. The texture of his work reflects the natural wood grain.
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Bible story; the title gets a South African flavor His caption is dramatic and informative, and it conveys
supplying the amount of money that Judas was the moral of this story: “Judas Iscariot betrayed our
willing to take to be bribed. In the Bible it is stated Lord Jesus for R3.00 without asking himself what he
that Judas would betray Jesus for 30 pieces of would buy with this money. After that he hanged
silver. At the time Mufangejo created the work himself and fell down and burst. You people, be careful
R3.00 was worth more, but it was not really a lot of money, because it is the root of sin”.
of money. He was implying that Judas would The struggle between good and evil and the theme of
have done anything for any amount of money. holiness is expressed in this work. His work contains
lessons for the viewer.
Title Style of work Medium and Technique

John Muafangejo. Judas Stylised Linocutting
Iscariot betrayed our Lord
Jesus for R3.00, linocut,
1973.
Formal Art Elements
In the composition of the linocut he depicts the story from right to left.
On the right he portrays the scene where Judas is kissing Jesus with a dramatic embrace. Judas is portrayed expressively in a position that looks like a serpent entwining
Jesus. The print on his long dress consists of bold white stripes that draw attention and resemble the scales of a snake. This could symbolize the idea that Judas was
possessed by the devil at that stage, which is one of the interpretations of the reason why he betrayed Christ. Jesus is depicted standing upright and in a frontal position.
His facial expression is neutral and his right arm is raised as if he is on the point of hugging Judas. Behind his head is a square shape with a bold white cross inside it,
symbolizing Jesus’ holiness. Jesus’ dress has fine lines like a decorative print and contrasts strongly with Judas’s dress with its bold print. Jesus seems to be floating. This
could also be a symbol of his holiness. On the right two men with long flowing hair and beards stand watching the scene. The men could be Jesus’ disciples, who were
accompanying him at the time, however they are armed with swords tied to their middles and the one has a knobkerrie and a drawn sword, while the other has an axe in
his hand. It therefore looks as if they are the soldiers who are on their way to arrest Jesus. This scene is divided from the next with a black line.
On the left Mufangejo shows the shocking scene of Judas’s suicide as he has hanged himself after realizing the gravity of his deed. Mufangejo depicts the tree with large,
simplified leaves that resembles the shape of daggers or swords. He also depicted the three singles one-rand notes scattered uselessly on the ground. The repetitive
lines, fine lines for the ground and thicker lines for the sky, form a lighter background for the silhouetted figure of the hanging Judas and the tree.
Lots of patterns, strong use of lines and a play with white and black.
Shallow space where actions takes place as in a comic.
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Style of work A linocut of the historical event when Muafangejo documented his views and
Stylised Tutu became the new archbishop. The experiences of the church extensively.
work consists of two strips of imagery To him, the church played a fatherly role
with captions underneath each. The strip in his life as it supported him in his
at the top of the composition is of the artistic development, when he was ill,
Medium and New Archbishop Desmond Tutu. He is promoted his work and was the source of
Technique depicted in a cartoonlike style as the his closest friends.
Linocutting shape of his head is exaggerated and This event was significant for the church,
his shiny glasses emphasised. as they appointed a new leader, but it
Around his neck hangs a chain with a was even more significant for South
large cross and he is wearing a light Africa as a country locked into the final
jacket with a darker shirt underneath. stages of the segregation of races
Title His facial expression is solemn, and he caused by apartheid. It is a clear sign of
John Muafangejo. New holds the pointed finger of his right hand the integration of this church in defiance
archbishop Desmond towards the crucifix of Jesus, to remind of the laws of the country.
Tutu Enthroned. 1986. people that they should not forget why
Linocut. they are there. From the left a white This blessing in the text shows his
dove enters the composition, support of the changes beginning to
symbolising the Holy Spirit entering occur in South Africa as well as his
Bishop Tutu. strong Christian beliefs.
Formal Art Elements
The crucifix with Jesus has been depicted in black and white areas that are strongly contrasted. The body of Christ is white with the black cross behind it
in one half and the opposite on the other side.
Muafangejo did not leave any open spaces.
He also deliberately depicted the people as one black, one white, spread equally throughout the rectangle. They are shown in a simplified style and most
of them are shown in profile. Their facial expressions seem friendly and in the row of people at the top, a white and black man are stretching their arms to
take each other’s hands, thereby encircling three other people as well.
Lots of patterns, strong use of lines, and a play with white and black.
Shallow space where actions take place as in a comic.
Shallow space where actions takes place as in a comic.
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Subject Description
The work shows a crucifix with raised arms carved into a tree trunk. It is decorated with a complex series of
carvings including an elephant, people and fish at its base. The figure of Christ is central, standing upright with
arms spread out. The cross bar of the cross is not horizontal but follows two branches growing upright from the
central log. Underneath Christ’s feet is a podium created from a separate piece of wood that transforms into what
appears to be the roots of the tree. This creates the symbolic impression of the hill of Golgotha, and it is suspended
above the earth, as the sculpture does not stand on the floor. Also suspended from one of Christ’s arms is a three-
dimensional wooden form representing a star.
Message and Meaning
Like all his work it has a deep spiritual meaning. He expressed the idea of cosmic harmony, the linking of heaven
and earth / God and man. Hlungwani believed that this sculpture symbolises that it is “possible for man to live in
harmony with nature
Jackson Hlungwani. Large Stylised Wooden sculpture
Crucifix and star, wood,
pencil, and charcoal, 1990-2.
Formal Art Elements

Simplified form, but recognizable. The figure of Christ is a strong and solid figure. Christ has an enormous face with large eyes that appears staring down
sternly. Between the eyebrows a deep incision represents the symbol of the cross.
The shape of the face becomes thinner towards the mouth, chin and long vertical beard. The shape of the mouth is indicated by a thin straight line,
contributing to the stern look. On both sides of the face are two exaggeratedly large ears shaped from round relief shapes.
The torso and legs are small in comparison to the head, but still create the impression of solidity as it consists of rounded segments that indicate the
different parts. Christ’s arms and hands come out directly from the sides of the head, next to the ears.
Hlungwani included more symbolic forms over the arms. On the one side is a fish, the symbol of peace and tranquillity and on the other side a form that
looks like a decorated flat tablet that has a cross with two crossbars on it. On the roots radiating from the podium on which the crucifix stands there are
more symbolic forms such as repetitive egg shapes on one branch. This may again refer to the idea to treating other people with care as if they are
fragile and it could also be a metaphorical reference to the sores that Hlungwani had on his legs.
101
Message and Meaning
Hlungwani made 22 fish sculptures in his lifetime. The image of a fish is a recognized
Christian symbol as it represented the Greek word Ichtus, which is an acronym for “Jesus
Christ, God's Son, Saviour”. It also refers to the process of being baptized through
immersion or submersion in water, as is practiced by churches such as the African Zionist
Church. This is a ritual cleansing process through which the person is symbolically reborn in
a new life.
The symbol of the fish is therefore complex. The significance of fish was uniquely interpreted
by Hlungwani as representations of peace and calm. One of Hlungwani’s comments on fish
sculptures are related to his interpretation of the time of transition in South Africa and the
way people should deal with it: “in the new country we must learn to swim like fish”.
Subject Description
A sculpture of a leaping fish. The natural shape of the wood was used to get to the curving
shape of the leaping fish while the grain of the wood contributes to the visual effect of fluidity
associated with fish.

Jackson Hlungwani, Leaping Fish, wood, 1980’s. Stylised Wooden sculpture
Formal Art Elements

In this sculpture he worked in an expressive style.
The title of this sculpture evokes the energy that it exudes. This fish has been depicted as it is gliding through the water with an expressively forked tail
that adds to the feeling of movement.
The fins on the sides of the fish are rectangular, and the texture of it is indicated with lines that are deeply carved. The fins on its back and underneath
the body look sleeker and are carved close to the body.
The face of the fish has a human feel to it as the simple line that indicated its mouth seems to be smiling and the two round cavities, that indicate the
eyes, seem to be gazing upward.
The surface of this fish has been sanded to give it a smooth texture.
Scales are represented in a simplified way as small marks that are evenly spread over the body of the fish.
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QUESTION 5: MULTIMEDIA AND NEW MEDIA – ALTERNATIVE CONTEMPORARY AND POPULAR ART FORMS IN SOUTH AFRICA
Multi-media artists are contemporary artists using a variety of media to communicate through the means of art. The aim is to touch the viewer in another
way than with conventional art.
(Difference between multi-media and mixed media. Mixed media refers to an artwork that combines different art media in one work e.g., paint, ink, pencil,
etc. Although a multi-media work can also make use of mixed media and the two terms can overlap, a multi-media work refers rather to the variety of media
used by contemporary artists that differs from the traditional/conventional media such as oil paintings and bronze sculptures.)
A few points about multi-media art:

Multi-media works are often a combination of visual arts with elements from literature, drama, dance, film and music.
Where traditional artworks work with sight, the other senses are now also included in visual arts such as hearing, smelling and touch.
These works can sometimes move or develop over time to show a process. These artworks often make use of advanced technology such as electronics or
computer technology. It includes sound, video, animation, and interactive media.
Traditional genres such as opera and film are multi-disciplinary and embrace music, dance, drama, costumes, literature, and visual arts. BUT these art
forms are not seen as ’multi-media’ art, because a multi-media artwork is:
• usually on a smaller scale than an opera or film
• not committed to tradition
• usually created by one person
• created by someone with a formal education in visual arts
• created to be exhibited in a gallery or museum where it is seen as a broadening of visual arts
This art developed out of the contribution of Marcel Duchamp and his ready-mades.
Can often be classified under Conceptual art for the use of alternative media and emphasis on expressing and conveying of ideas.
Multi-media art often uses new media such as videos, digital media and other media not necessarily seen as art media – anything from bread, blood, etc.
INSTALLATION is an artwork that integrates the exhibition space as part of the artwork. Sometimes created for a specific space. Important is the
inclusion of the viewer in the artwork – the viewer can become part of the artwork.
When discussing works of conceptual nature such as multi-media work, the following can be used as a guide:
Describe the work in detail. It is necessary to convey all the main elements of the work.
Clearly refer to the media, for instance that it was a performance documented by video, installation, etc.
The meaning of these works plays an important role and you must expand on the artist’s intention with the work.
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He was born in Johannesburg into The artistic heritage of Kentridge is Kentridge is a storyteller with his
a privileged White family, but one artists such as Daumier, Goya, main theme is man – man as the
which was politically aware. At the Beckman and Otto Dix in their oppressor, the victim or the
University of the Witwatersrand, he political and social commentary. In observer that does not get involved.
studied Politics and African Studies. South Africa the large charcoal Events usually play off against the
In the 1970’s he worked in theatre, drawings and small ink drawings of background of Johannesburg – the
as an actor and director, while Dumile with whom he studied at the city with its mine dumps and dry
studying and working as a graphic Johannesburg Art Foundation surrounding plains. His work is
artist in Johannesburg. Later influence him. eclectic in the variety of images that
studied Fine Arts and taught he combines. There are often two
etching at the Johannesburg Art opposing images in his work e.g
Foundation. He also studied mime the difference between rich and
and theatre in Paris. He has worked poor, victims and oppressors. His
extensively in theatre both as actor, work is a social comment on
designer and director. In 1985, after political and social issues – his
an interval of some years, during drawings and films refer to a
which he was active in filmmaking, broken society,
William Kentridge (1955 -) he began to draw again.

Kentridge use mainly charcoal drawings that also forms the base of his His work is political without being prescriptive or polemical. His work
multi-media works in animation form. The animation films: Kentridge’s provides a vicious, satirical commentary on society. Kentridge feels
technique for making animated films is one that he invented himself, a that one cannot erase the past and we need to remember it. This is
technique that evolved out of his earlier drawings. He draws in charcoal, explained in his use of the eraser – the previous images are never
and then erases part of the drawing and draws in the next step in the completely erased and remain ghost-like. His works deal with guilt and
process of capturing the action. Each stage is captured on film by a camera. confession, trauma, and healing. His is an art particularly rooted in
The erasure is never complete, so each image contains within itself the South Africa – apartheid and post-apartheid. His works do not illustrate
ghost of the previous image. The image changes into another, but the past apartheid but communicate issues through metaphors.
is never gone.
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He was born in 1958, in Virginia, Van der Merwe’s work forms part of His installations focus on the
Free State and grew up in tendency of many contemporary human situation, the victims of
Ladysmith, KwaZulu-Natal. He artists who use everyday, non-art violence, politics and social
worked for the South African materials to create artworks. He realities. It covers a range from
Defence Force as a military graphic takes from Duchamp’s use of women and child abuse, war, the
artist, set designer at PACT and ready-mades and other artists that effects of TV violence on children,
heraldist at the Bureau of Heraldry. have used found objects such as apartheid, life, and death – all with
His decision to leave the job Conceptual artists. a spiritual message. The hope is
security that he had when that it would not repeat itself. His
employed by the SADF was the Issues that his work raise / his work is like monuments that speak
result of an urge to critique the contribution of the ordinary. Everyday items
unjust system of military All living and non-living things decay such as bridal gowns, tables,
occupation. After obtaining a and return to dust in the end. Rust is suitcases, etc. are used to create
master’s degree in fine art at the something that destroys, that slowly what he calls, poetic instances.
Pretoria Technikon in 1999 he has eats an object, causing it to return to There is a nostalgia and
exhibited extensively. He lives and dust. Van der Merwe uses rust to tell vulnerability to his work – the bridal
works in Pretoria and is a senior and preserve stories of our history. gown that will never be worn, the
lecturer in Fine Art at the Rust is seen as a process of life and luggage that will never be collected.
a metaphor for our own survival. The
Department of Fine and Applied His work tells stories by recalling
Jan van der Merwe (1958 -) rusted tin preserves and at the same
Art, Tshwane University of memories.
time hints of vulnerability.
Technology.
Stylistic Characteristics
He is an installation artist using found objects covered in rusted tin. He uses objects that are discarded such as rusted tins, rusted metal and modern
technology such as TV-monitors. Layers of rusted tin are attached with bitumen (a thick, sticky, black substance obtained from tar) to everyday found
objects. His works are created from the debris of a complex society. He ages and preserves objects. Tins that once preserved food now become
representative of things that are consumed, discarded and lost, and are now preserving the vulnerable, the fate of innocent people.
By covering objects with rusted tins, the objects not only look as if they have been dug up from underneath the ground, it is also preserved through this
process.
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Subject Description
The first animated film of eight minutes in which we are introduced to his central characters. The title is an ironic one –
Kentridge’s Johannesburg shows all the scars of its beginning as a mining town. The commercialization of the city and the
way this has affected the nature and the lives of its inhabitants are a central theme. Each of the two dozen scenes in the
film is made up by a vast number of changes made to a single drawing, which have been captured a few frames at a time
by a 16mm film camera. Because his media are charcoal and pastel, visual cues within each film document the process of
erasing and re-drawing that enable Kentridge to metamorphose his subjects into imaginary creatures, inanimate objects
and ordinary human beings.
Message and Meaning
By the time this film was made, worldwide pressure on South Africa to abolish the apartheid system had reached its
greatest intensity. By creating a film in which the main characters are caught up in a seemingly pointless brooding about
their personal affairs, Kentridge makes an important point about the tunnel vision of societies under siege. For the three
protagonists is so absorbed in their private lives that they do not see the suffering of the masses. Towards the end of the
film, just before Soho and Felix engage in a physical struggle over Mrs. Eckstein’s affections, Soho responds to the
encroaching crowds by literally throwing food in their direction. His works deal with guilt and confession, trauma and
William Kentridge, Johannesburg, 2nd healing. His works do not illustrate apartheid but communicate issues through metaphors.
Greatest City after Paris, animated film,
1989
Formal Elements
The three central characters in the film are Soho Eckstein, Felix Teitlebaum and Mrs. Eckstein. Soho is represented as a capitalist, mining magnate, dressed in a pin-
stripe suit and an ever-present cigar. He is depicted as gluttonous and exploiting his workers. His wife, Mrs. Eckstein is a neglected wife, but desired by Felix, who is
always represented as naked. He seems to represent the innocent people as the exact opposite of Soho. The film focuses on Soho and his empire, which includes him
buying up half of Johannesburg. While Soho focuses on his capitalist exploits Felix initially fantasises about having an affair with Mrs. Eckstein. The film includes a fight
between Soho and Felix, with a victorious Felix. The film also includes scenes of Soho feeding the poor, presumably his mine workers, but the food that he literally
throws at them also obliterates them from the scene, erasing their existence. Another contrast is signalled by the film’s soundtrack, which punctuates images of growth
and prosperity with jazz, while the miners’ steady advance and retreat is accompanied by the chanting of a South African choir. The growing masses belong entirely to
the surrounding landscape. One of the most striking visual aspects of this film is the care that Kentridge has lavished on the countryside around Johannesburg – mine-
dumps and slime-dams, pylons and power cables etc. In his work nature is vulnerable to man. Eckstein is the archetypal capitalist, but his tunnel vision regarding the
world outside seems emblematic of a social order which is on the verge of disintegrating from within.
Medium and Technique: Animation film based on drawings Style of work: Expressionistic style of drawing
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Subject and Description Message and Meaning
In Shadow Procession Kentridge As in Johannesburg 2nd Greatest

Style of work used only silhouetted cutouts and torn city after Paris there is a procession in
Figurative paper figures with no drawings. After this film. We do not know where they
beginning with a slow shadowy are from, from what they are fleeing or
procession it changes into a more where are they going to. Torn paper
clearly defined march in which a and objects were used against a
sequence of wounded and disabled transparent background to create a
figures, a structure resembling the dramatic procession of figures. The
Animation film based on
gallows, a man hanging from gallows, a figures are heavily burdened by their
silhouetted cut-outs and torn
figure pulling a shower, and people possessions. The work is universal in
paper figures
carrying their belongings, all move its reference to the displacing of
forward in a kind of chain gang. Male people, such as the forced removals
and female figures participate, and during Apartheid. Kentridge show how
some become extremely violent, people are walking away from
beheading others. Some figures seem something, trying to escape from the
Title not human and are mixtures of animal- chaos. They seem to be seeking
William Kentridge. Shadow like bodies and sharp knife or scissors- knowledge, symbolized in the
Procession, animated film like heads. representation of people with books...
of collage of torn paper,
1999.
Formal Elements
The mood and pace of the procession changes as the music changes to a wailing version of “What a friend have we in Jesus”. People now carry flags and books,
followed by people who look like soldiers returning from war with amputated legs, hobbling along. Some walk bowing under the weight of their burden and a group of
men follow each other blindly by holding on to the shoulder of the one in front of them. Children are carried and a man comes past pushing a figure in a wheelbarrow.
Flags and spades are waved around as if in victory, followed by a dead man hanging on the gallows. People preaching from podiums and megaphones on wheels
follow. Chairs and packages become larger and change into buildings. The last man seems to be dragging a whole city or the whole country along in this procession as
his package blacks out the screen into darkness. The technique lends from Shadow Theater.
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Style of work
Installation In this installation, van der According to him, referring to the
Merwe defines a confined space, significance of the installation,
an intimate scullery for personal “each generation cleans up” and
introspection. In its literal tries to “start afresh”. The
descriptive context it is only a cleaning or purifying ritual can
Found objects covered with rust, TV
scullery with a kitchen sink with also have religious connotations
and data projector
dishes, dish clothes, oven such as the confession in
gloves, and an apron. Built into Roman catholic churches.
the basin is a TV monitor Biegbak aims at allowing a
depicting a scene of hands moment for re-evaluation and
Title continuously scrubbing a cooking reflection.
Van der Merwe, vessel. Above the sink a
Biegbak/Confessional, objects, projected image depicts a
rusted metal, TV monitor, video rainy courtyard seen through a
machine and data projektor, 2003. window
Formal Elements
This intimate “walled-in” and “curtained-off” space creates a shrine like presence and the images in the sink and on the wall lend a nostalgic
atmosphere to the mundane – the ritual of cleansing and the repetitive cycles in nature ( the rain outside). All the elements in this work lead the viewer
to the idea of the continuous cycle that is part of life. It is seen in the daily chore of washing up, the result of eating every day and the idea of the cycles
of nature represented by the rainy courtyard. The use of rust as medium that has covered all the objects enforces this idea of the continuous cycle that
repeats itself throughout time. The rust is a sign of time that has passed and the effects of degradation that it has on objects. The scene encountered
by the onlooker is a personal space, even though familiar, it is someone else’s kitchen sink and dishes that has been washed. The occupant of this
space is absent. By using corroded metal and combining it with technology, van der Merwe establishes a contemporary archaeology, a means to shift
time and confirm the immediacy of memory as a present experience and a way of decoding his understanding of the signifiers that allow him to live the
present as both past and present. The brown colour of the deteriorating rusted objects contrasts strongly with the cool colours of the image on the TV
screen and projected image. The rusted objects are roughly textured and seem to have been dug up from the earth while the technological images are
moving and have a smooth, fluid texture.
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Installation
This installation consists of an old The work is seen as a representation of a
bedstead with a wedding dress laid specific historical event, but can become
out on it and a wardrobe created universal. By using barbed wire to
out of barbed wire with dresses represent the outlines of the wardrobe
Found objects covered
inside it. The old style of the Van der Merwe created a metaphor for
with rust
bedstead and the clothing evoke the concentration camps where women
references to South African history. and children were imprisoned by the
The open-ended narrative (story) of British during the Anglo-Boer War (1899-
this work leads the viewer to the 1902). This reference can be taken
idea that a fiancée has been left further as women and children trapped
Title waiting for the return of her future within situations of poverty or social
Jan van der Merwe, husband, who is presumably upheaval still suffer in today’s world.
Waiting, rusted tin and deceased.
found objects, 2000.
Formal Elements
The dresses hanging in the “barbed wire wardrobe” refer to the concentration camps in which woman and children were held, during the Anglo-Boer
War (1899-1902. The artist’s strategy to use ‘real objects’ (the bed and dresses) and to cover them with thin layers of rusted tin confirms the historical
‘setting’ of the installation. The bedcover, the wedding dress and hanging dressed become preserved in a historical crust like ancient archaeological
finds excavated from an ancient site. The delicate and brittle rusted surface evokes meaning and interpretation on various levels. The reference to an
old wedding dress, an old bed, dresses hanging on clothes hangers referring to a specific historical period, invites a historical reading of the
compilation. This reads as a historical equation, the history of woman and children being the victims of ideological conflict, from the past and in the
present. The question arising from this strategy is: why does van der Merwe bother to retrieve the past? By representing everything in rusted tin the
idea of waiting is depicted as a process that leads to decay. All the objects there are physically tangible, as if preserved for eternity, but are
deteriorating and seem fragile. The title of the work contributes to the unending vicious circle. The Afrikaans title “wag” means “to wait”, but it also
means “guard”. Through this double meaning the idea of absence is evoked. Not one of the two characters in this story is physically present. The only
permanent aspect of the work seems to be the endless waiting.
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QUESTION 6: POST-1994, DEMOCRATIC IDENTITY IN SOUTH AFRICA
Identity has to do with the question of ‘who am I?’
Expressing identity in art started to play an increasingly important role in contemporary art. There has been an emphasis of artists expressing different
identities relating to personal, gender, racial, spiritual, class and political issues. Part of identity is formed by that which one is born into like gender,
ethnicity, race, socio-economical class, etc. These factors become a part of a person that cannot be changed. However, one can change how one looks
at them. This is what contemporary artists do and by doing this, they can change the viewers perceptions about issues and stereotypes relating to these
issues.
In 1994 South Africa became a democratic country with voting rights for all. National symbols were changed to construct a new South African identity
and a new heritage for the democratic nation of South Africans. South Africa is one of the most diverse countries in the world with four broad racial
groupings, 11 official languages, a huge gap between rich and poor, and growing communities of migrants and immigrants.
The end of apartheid gave a freedom of expression to both individuals and groups. This has generated a process of intense internal reflection in trying
to understand the past and build a future. Many South African artists work around the broad theme of identity which includes issues of language,
ethnicity, race, history, globalization and urbanization in the new South Africa.
There is also often a strong obsession with autobiography where artists question and reflect on their heritage, family identity, gender and class.
Artworks take on many forms from the traditional paintings and sculptures to new media, photography and video. Meaning is often embodied in the
medium of the work itself.
The legacy of race classification under Apartheid led to many post-apartheid works that explore identity in the new South Africa and in so doing
reclaiming their identity.
110
QUESTION 6: POST-1994, DEMOCRATIC IDENTITY IN SOUTH AFRICA

Madikida was born on 25 March 1973, The use of the human body is a Madikida is a conceptual artist
in Butterworth in the Eastern Cape. central image in Madikida’s work. who makes use of a range of
His mother is coloured, and his father This investigation relates to contemporary media such as
is black. After matric he worked as a conceptual Body art where the video, photography and
cleaner, a tea-boy and a salesman for human body, often of the artist, but installations. The investigation of
a clothing shop. When he was not necessarily, is the media of identity is central to his work,
retrenched by the shop, he joined a expression. The activities are done which often can be described as
gang of car thieves and was in private or in the public, and autobiographical. He explores his
continually in and out of jail. During communication takes place own personal identity, but also his
one such stint in jail he came across through photos and other forms of identity as a Xhosa and how
an advertisement for the Visual Arts documentation. traditional Xhosa beliefs relate to
and Craft Academy in Germiston. At contemporary life.
the age of twenty-four he enrolled at
the Academy in 1997. Madikida
graduated from the Academy at the
top of his class. He went on to
Churchill Madikida (1973 - )
complete a BA and MA degree at the
University of the Witwatersrand
Stylistic Characteristics Issues that his work raise / his contribution
One of the issues that Madikida investigates in his work is initiation and "With my art I choose to reclaim the past, to explore my history and
circumcision in Xhosa culture. Initiation is the tradition in many African to work as a storyteller telling about our past, present, and future. I
societies where the child is accepted into adulthood. Every year a number of think that in a society that preaches democracy and multiculturalism,
male initiates ‘go under the spear’ (circumcised) and some die, while some it is important to have an art that expresses and illustrates diverse
are maimed for life due to infections. Madikida meditates on what these perspectives, even if it means producing controversial visual images
practices mean in contemporary life. He says that the love and respect for his that some people might not like." Through his work he aspires to the
culture is immense, but he also feels morally compelled and obliged to take a building of a South African society which acknowledges the
stand on what he feels is an unnecessary sacrifice of young lives. importance of their own heritage and culture, as well as those of
other groups.
111

Hasan and Husain Essop are twin The Essop twins deal extensively Hasan and Husein Essop
brothers that were born in 1985 in with their Muslim identity and investigate their own identity and
Cape Town. They come from a want to show people “what question their heritage of being
devout Muslim family. While at Muslims are really about – we are Muslim, being Indian and being
school they had to attend an after- friendly people, we don’t judge, we South African. Especially their
hours Muslim school, or madrasa. pray, we are humble.”Knowledge earlier work was rooted in the
After school they both studied at of contemporary art practice in the experience of living in Cape Town
Michaelis School of Fine Arts, use of digital media. and emphasizing their experiences
University of Cape Town. Husain as young Muslims males.
majored in photography and Hasan
in printmaking. They graduated each
with BA Fine Arts in 2006 and later Hasan and Husain Essop (1985 - )
also a Diploma in Art from the
University of Cape Town. Since 2007
the Essop twins collaborate to create
their artworks.

The Essop brothers have been working collaboratively to produce their The twins seek their place in a multiracial and religiously diverse society. The
digitally composited photographs. Hasan and Husain Essop decided to split identity between being a good Muslim, and also enjoying contemporary
only use themselves as subjects in their photographs. Their works feature popular culture gives honesty to their work. There are not a lot of Muslim
a profusion of twin clones that are engaged in various pursuits. By only artists in South Africa and through their work they give a unique insight into
using themselves as representations, they create personal, rather than being a Muslim living in contemporary South Africa. The Essop twins’
objective experiences. The Essop brothers use colour photography as increasingly addresses the global theme of about being Muslim in the 21st
their medium of choice to express their ideas. Their images are often busy century. A lot of extremist Muslims believe that Islam should not form any
and energetic and are in saturated in colour. There is a strong theatrical relationship.
feeling to their work and often seems like a still from a movie.
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Style of work Madikida investigates his identity He questions his identity as a

Conceptual as a Xhosa in this work which Xhosa man. It also reflects on the
suggests a circumcised initiate artist's personal revulsion of some
eating or regurgitating maize of the public use and consumption
porridge. Struggles of the heart is of stereotypical images of
a video work that starts with sound traditional cultural practices. To
and the click of the tongue. The some degree it also reflects his
Medium and white covered face of the artist dislike towards some aspects
Technique appears to fill the screen and huge within the practice of these rituals.
Video amounts of porridge (“pap”) are The body of the work refers to the
forced into his mouth. After a few ongoing debate about identity and
minutes the process is reversed and culture in the new South Africa.
the porridge is stretch out of his The work is about the
mouth. consequences, both physical and
Title
spiritual, of accepting or rejecting
Churchill Madikida,
specific traditions. The porridge is
Struggles of the
a metaphor for these traditions.
heart, C-prints stills
from video, 2003..
Formal Elements
As he slurps the paste, nearly choking, more of it comes leaping into the frame from below into his mouth. His eyes are pressed tightly closed in
concentration and the mouth is wrinkled in possibly a grin. This consumption and regurgitation of the pap is a metaphor for initiation and circumcision of
young males in the Xhosa tradition. Madikida’s face is painted white in these images. In many parts of Africa the colour white refers to the spiritual realm
and purity. Boys during initiation whitened their bodies. Mielie porridge or ‘pap’ is the staple food of many black people. It symbolized cultural tradition in
this work. In this video Madikida shows how the tradition of initiation is force-feed into him and how he rejects it.
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Conceptual
The installation is haunting in Madikida’s sister lived with HIV
Medium and Technique the way it confronts the viewer for more than nine years and
Installation of coffins, with the devastation of passed in 2005. He was very
curtains, candles, HIV/AIDS in South Africa. In a close to his sister and her death
crosses, ribbons and way it is difficult to explain how made him aware of the despair
flowers. an installation that borders on and suffering that this virus
kitsch with lights, gold coffins, causes to millions of people.
Title dried flower crosses and
Churchill candles can be so sad. It
Madikida,Status, could be that most people who
installation of coffins, visited this installation knew
curtains, candles, someone who has died of
crosses, ribbons and AIDS. It is also a fitting
flowers, 2005. memorial to Madikida’s sister.
Formal Elements
In this installation there are three coffins. One of them contained an adult-sized figure made out of lights. There is a child's coffin with its lid barely ajar. The third
is shown with its lid shut and a plaster cast face peering out through a glass window. This coffin was dedicated to his sister, while the child’s coffin speaks of all
the infants and children who have died because of the virus. The one with the lights is dedicated to anyone who is infected with the virus. The installation
resembled a shrine. Scattered across the floor are burning candles, rose petals and red ribbons. Two heavy curtains of maroon-coloured velvet, enclosed the
installation, further emphasising the solemn atmosphere. Visitors could light candles as a gesture of mourning as well as hope for the future. The title, Status, is
the expression used by most people to classify one's character based on ancestry, intellect, income, where one lives, what one drives, etc. The word has
however got a new significance in denoting whether one is HIV positive or not. As such the title points out that this deadly virus does not care about class, but
transcends all boundaries such as gender, class, race and sexuality. As part of his Status exhibition there was a series of 18 smooth white plaster casts taken of
the faces of people, many now deceased, with HIV/AIDS. As they are mounted directly onto a wall, they become frighteningly powerful death masks. One of them
is Madikida's sister, who was an activist with the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC). Madikida started the work for this show, during the frequent visits he made
to the hospice where his sister spent her last days. Madikida describes this work as a "celebration and memorialisation of life; it is about continuity rather than
death. This work is about bringing the reality of the people behind the numbers closer to the viewer." The masks with their closed eyes and deathly pallor
comprised a haunting personalisation of a disease that is often met with denial in South Africa.
114
Subject Description
The setting for this photograph is Thornton Road, a street in a suburb with a large
Muslim population. This is also the site of an apartheid-era atrocity that took place in
1985 and which became known as “the Trojan Horse” incident where police hidden in a
vehicle opened fire on unarmed children and youths, several of whom were killed. (See
Manfred Zylla’s Death Trap)
Message and Meaning

“We all suffer an inner struggle. You have this split personality within yourself because
of the different lifestyles we’re exposed to. We were raised by traditional parents, but the
moment one leaves the home you step into a world full of peer pressure. You grow up
with this inner tension. You have your Islamic garb when you’re going to pray. But when
you take that off, you have your Diesel top underneath, which you feel more comfortable
with.” Husain Essop
This is not just about Islam versus the West, the brothers say, but also about the
Hasan and Husain Essop, Thornton Road, Light Jet C-print contradictions with which Muslims live. Are these Western or Eastern disciples? The
on Fuji Crystal Archive paper, 2008 Essops are searching for their own identity, in the context of an icon of Western
consumerism (Coco – Cola).

Conceptual Digitally manipulated photograph
Formal Elements
In the photograph the multiple copies of Hasan and Husein Essop are either in prayer, donning combat kit or draped in the distinctive black-and- white
scarf, or keffiyeh, associated with Palestine. They are sipping on that global beverage, Coca-Cola, under a huge Coke banner, a brand seen by some
to be synonymous with western materialism or imperialism (“Coca-Colanisation”). Some of the characters look like zombies, gulping Coca-Cola, while
others are actively militarized and rebelling against it. Their method of working is to first decide on the concept and then set out to capture the scene.
The final image is the result of carefully posed scenes which are digitally manipulated with Photoshop to create the final collage. The ‘stitching’
together of the separate shots is achieved seamlessly and the finished work does not reveal its fabricated nature. According to them the layering is the
tricky part and is time-consuming. Their photographs are usually printed on cotton paper which gives a smooth, warm and velvety matt effect. The
image is busy, energetic and saturated in colour.
115

Style of work
Conceptual This photograph refers to illegal According to the brothers the
dog-fighting in Cape Town with dogs are like soldiers being
two pit bull dogs being braced to trained to hate the West. On the
Medium and fight one another. The scene other hand, the West wants to
Technique takes place in a typical train people to hate the East
Digitally manipulated suburban setting. using the media such as CNN
photograph and BBC.
The conflict between the West

and East seems unresolved
and both sides do not realize
Title
that they have a lot more in
Hasan and Husain
common than they think.
Essop, Thornton
Muslims are often viewed as
Road, Light Jet C-
‘terrorists’, extremists and
print on Fuji Crystal
militant in the West. This
Archive paper, 2008
stereotype is confronted by the
Essop brothers in their work.
Formal Elements
The seven figures in the photograph are all of the Essop twins in different positions. Two of the figures are waving fluffy toys dressed in the American
flag. This is like waving a red flag to a bull and the dogs are taught to have a go at the cuddly teddy bears. Although their photographs seem to be like a
spontaneous documentation, they are staged with great care.
Their method of working is to first decide on the concept and then set out to capture the scene. The final image is the result of carefully posed scenes
which are digitally manipulated with Photoshop to create the final collage. The ‘stitching’ together of the separate shots is achieved seamlessly and the
finished work does not reveal its fabricated nature. According to them the layering is the tricky part and is time-consuming. Their photographs are usually
printed on cotton paper which gives a smooth, warm and velvety matt effect. The image is busy, energetic and saturated in colour.
116
QUESTION 7: GENDER ISSUES
Both masculinity and femininity are important.
Feminist art was created by a female artist making a deliberate statement about what it means to be a woman.
Feminist art is characterized by:
A strong sense of exploration of female concerns followed such as a focus on what happens to the female body. Many women artists concentrate on
exploring gender, sexuality and identity. Investigation of women’s historic and present rolls in society. The concentration on the female body led to new
ways of studying it– as an active force in itself.This is one of the taboo subjects that is usually associated with ‘impure' condition. There was also a
strong identification with so-called women craft techniques such as embroidery, patchwork, etc., to create art works.
Feminist art in opposition to traditional male-dominant art (paint on canvas, etc.) turned to new media such as e.g. Video, installations, performances,
etc. Many of the conceptual artworks are of a fleeting nature and only live on in documentation such as photos and videos.
Although in theory good art is good irrespectively of the race or gender of the artists, this is not the case and the art world is still dominated by men.
And although in the Western World women enjoy equal opportunities; this is not the case in many other countries such as Iran where women are not
even allowed to watch live soccer matches.
117
Siopis was born in Vryburg in the FEMINISM – She is conscious of Siopis’s theme is often one of
Northern Cape and grew up and being a woman and explores the gender and race, and the influence
studied in the Eastern Cape. She position of women in her work. there-of on history and people’s
completed her BA and MA Fine Womanhood and the female memories. In her work she strives
Arts at Rhodes University. She experience are explored in all her to investigate her own relationship
was a professor at Wits University work. Many of the objects she with society. Throughout her career
and is currently an Honorary includes in her work such as cakes, there is a search for her true self,
Professor at the Michaelis School fruit etc. have a connection with mainly her femininity. This includes
of Fine Art, University of Cape femininity. her earliest cake paintings, the still-
Town. lifes, the history paintings with
South Africa – She is involved with figures such as Saartjie Baartman
realities in South Africa in that she to works that investigate themes
portrays the past and present in a such as child abuse. Feminity and
highly personal way. sexuality, with sub-themes such as
identity and alienation, are central
to her work. Siopis is acutely
conscious of being a woman and
explores the position of women in Penelope Siopis (1953 - )
her work.
Stylistic Characteristics Issues that her work raise / her contribution
Siopis work covers a great variety of themes and media, and she has Her career is characterised by change and investigation as seen both in her
moved from her early drawings and paintings into more conceptual work range of themes and media. Penny Siopis is one of the most influential
including installations, photo-based work and video work. Recently she artists working in South Africa today. Her career, spanning 30 years,
has returned to painting. Unbelievable technical ability in paint and she includes her well-known ‘history’ paintings of the 1980s that critiqued
is fascinated with the process of painting. Use different materials such apartheid, and subsequent installations, films and paintings that explore
as the photocopies in the history paintings or real assemblage objects. personal memory in the post-apartheid era.
More conceptual works including photos, videos, installations.
118
Mary Sibande was born and grew These include Cindy Sherman’s Sibande attempts to critique
up in Barberton in Mpumalanga, extensive series of photographic stereotypical depictions of women,
where she lived with her impersonations of a wide variety of particularly black women in our
grandmother until she finished women and Kara Walker a society. The body, for Sibande, and
school. She then joined her mother contemporary African American particularly the skin, and clothing is
in Johannesburg where she artist who explores race and gender the place where history is contested
obtained an Honours Degree in by focusing on the history of slavery and where fantasies play out. She
Fine Art at the University of in America in room-size black cut- looks at the generational
Johannesburg in 2007. Sibande paper silhouettes. disempowerment of the black
works in various media including woman.
painting, sculpture and
photography.
Mary Sibande (1982 - )

Stylistic Characteristics Issues that her work raise / her contribution
Sibande developed the character of a maid, Sophie, in a series of life- Her sculptures and photographic artworks depicting the domestic worker are
size sculptures and photographic prints. The figure used in the not to create feelings of anger, shame, and humiliation in the viewer, but to
sculptures is a cast of the artist’s own body in fibreglass and silicone, the transcend this reality where the domestic worker is able to liberate herself.
same material used for shop window mannequins. Sibande’s interest in The implication is that we can all be free of the past. This has significance
fashion and clothing has been channelled in her art. Sophie wears for apartheid's victims, perpetrators, or beneficiaries. The theatrical quality
extravagant Victorian costumes handmade mainly out of the blue fabric of her workplaces them in the realm of fantasy. Daydreams are the products
typical of domestic uniforms and workmen’s overalls in South Africa of an inner dialogue, which explains why Sophie is pictured with closed
eyes.
119
Background Influences
Lisa Brice was born in Cape Town in 1968. She graduated from Michaelis Knowledge of contemporary art
School of Fine Art (U.T.C.) in 1990. She has exhibited widely in South practice in her range of materials.
Africa and abroad, and her work is represented in major collections both
public and private. She now lives and works in London and Trinidad. Her
works are internationally exhibited and she is included in Vitamin P2, an Subject Matter / Themes
anthology on contemporary international painting.
Violence and the fear of violence in
South Africa. Also the position of
women in society – exploitation and
abuse
Lisa Brice (1968 - )
Brice was trained as a painter, but this did not restrict her choice of Brice explored gender issues and the dehumanizing of women in themes
media. Her work includes a variety of new media such as found objects ranging from prostitution to stereotypes. Violence and the threat of violence
or domestic materials such as linoleum, with steel to make wall (domestic, sexual, personal, global or social) are constant themes in her
artworks, installations and sculptural pieces. These works are work.
immaculately finished.
120

Style of work A monumental black woman, classically This work takes a critical look at
Figurative draped with one breast revealed, sits history as recorded from a
casually on a pile of waste and the garbage dominant white patriarchal point
Medium and Technique that Western civilization brought to Africa – of view. She challenges not only
Oil and collage on board including fruit peelings, a stretch canvas, a the white historical and political
dead bird, objects d’art, a skull, models of a domination, but also the lesser
pregnant woman, a little handbag etc. position of women in our society
Title A lot of the objects in the ‘rubbish heap’

Penelope Siopis, such as the dead bird and skull are vanitas
Patience on a symbols, while the handbag relates to
monument, oil and femininity. Also included are two views of
collage on board, 1988. a bust of a black man by Anton van Wouw
(a South African sculptor).
Formal Elements
The woman is busy peeling a lemon, which is of course a bitter fruit, which may hint at the true position of the black woman in history. The background
of the painting is vast. Closer inspection reveals that the background contains a collage of photocopied schoolbook illustrations showing the traumatic
conflict over land. The image gradually recedes into the background and consists of images containing British soldiers, black warriors, Voortrekkers,
slaves, missionaries etc. (Photocopied, stuck down and painted over.) – a record of South Africa’s past from a specific and prejudiced point of view. By
using photocopied images she can repeat and change the scale of an image. Siopis does not give prominence to scenes of historical events such as
discoveries, battles and victories. These more customary depictions of history are relegated to obscure minor roles and the tiny figures become
secondary to more forceful motifs such as the figure of the black woman whose role in history was perceived as unimportant. The significant becomes
insignificant and the unimportant important. Technically the work is breathtaking – the collage that forms the brown and yellow background consisting
of hundreds of small over-painted figures
121

Style of work
Figurative The Shame series is a Siopis describes these works as
monumental installation of 90 ‘poetics of vulnerability’. The
small-scale works exploring acts of Shame works refer to the shame
Medium and violence inflicted on the bodies of as a state of disgust – a feeling of
Technique young girls. Each of these works losing one’s dignity in full view of
Mixed media on paper. shows interference/intrusion with others. The threatened, sexed
the body and speaks of body of the girl is central and it
aggression, fear, death, etc. signals to the violence of rape
and abuse. In South Africa the
Title numbers for rape and abuse are
Penelope Siopis, very high. Often it is kept quiet,
Shame, mixed media because of the perceived shame
on paper, 2002 – 2005. there-of.
Formal Elements
There is a sensuous beauty in her lacquered, dripping surfaces and the intensity of her glossy red palette (she works here with lacquer, oil and enamel
paint). The Shame series incorporates mass-produced rubber stamps declaring ‘I am sorry’ and other sentiments delivered as light and pretty but
masking a lasting horror. The works are executed in reds, pinks and browns that stand for carnal mess – a series of spills and stains. According to Siopis,
these works start as shapeless spills and drips on paper. The pink and red are like flesh and blood. She then shapes the images. There is also a strong
connection between the images and words. The glass paint and letter stamp speak of homely crafts and is ironic in these works. The ’I’m sorry’ words are
stamped from the head of a small nude girl watching how she bleeds in a large pool. Other phrases include: ‘Thank you for sharing this special day with
us’ between a pair of the thin legs of a child. ‘To a special father’ repeating next to the face. At times the words become bruises and wounds on the
bodies. The clichés of typical greeting cards change in meaning and expose a violent society.
122

Style of work
Naturalistic The maid character, Sophie, was developed from Sibande again evokes the
Sibande’s personal history as her mother, domestic servitude of the women
grandmother and great-grandmother were all of her family, rendering the blue
maids. Sibande was the first woman in her family and white servant’s uniform into a
Medium and allowed to study and she wanted to celebrate it. costume for a heroine, of
Technique According to Sibande ‘that is the reason, why I voluminous ball gown proportions.
Photograph started to look back on the former role of my The use of the black hair is
mother, my grandmother, my great grandmother. interesting in that it not only refers
That's why I created Sophie.’ In assuming the to C.J. Walker, but also to the
Title appearance of this highly politicised character, political issue of black hair. While
Mary Sibande, Sibande is able to explore, ridicule and subvert millions are spent on the
‘They don’t make the structures that victimised the domestic worker. straightening of hair or wigs to
them like they It's a liberating and subversive act. “I wanted to imitate white hair, many others are
used to do’, digital celebrate them (domestic workers). I think that against it.
print, 2009. they are heroes. It was so hard to put food on
. the table.”
Formal Elements
There is a sensuous beauty in her lacquered, dripping surfaces and the intensity of her glossy red palette (she works here with lacquer, oil and enamel
paint). The Shame series incorporates mass-produced rubber stamps declaring ‘I am sorry’ and other sentiments delivered as light and pretty but
masking a lasting horror. The works are executed in reds, pinks and browns that stand for carnal mess – a series of spills and stains. According to
Siopis, these works start as shapeless spills and drips on paper. The pink and red are like flesh and blood. She then shapes the images. There is also
a strong connection between the images and words. The glass paint and letter stamp speak of homely crafts and is ironic in these works. The ’I’m
sorry’ words are stamped from the head of a small nude girl watching how she bleeds in a large pool. Other phrases include: ‘Thank you for sharing
this special day with us’ between a pair of the thin legs of a child. ‘To a special father’ repeating next to the face. At times the words become bruises
and wounds on the bodies. The clichés of typical greeting cards change in meaning and expose a violent society.
123
Style of work In this installation, Sophie is Sibande again evokes the

Naturalistic weaving hair into the portrait of domestic servitude of the
Madame C.J. Walker. Sibande has women of her family,
created a portrait of Walker in black rendering the blue and white
artificial hair, using more locks of servant’s uniform into a
the hair to link the sculpture to the costume for a heroine, of
Medium and
portrait on the wall. Sophie is both voluminous ball gown
Technique
creating the portrait and drawing proportions. The use of the
Installation
strength from it. Madame C.J. black hair is interesting in that
Walker (1867 –1919) was a famous it not only refers to C.J.
Victorian entrepreneur and the first Walker, but also to the
Title woman to become a millionaire on political issue of black hair.
Mary Sibande, her own terms. She was born to While millions are spent on
Conversation parents that were slaves and the straightening of hair or
with Madame worked as a cotton picker and wigs to imitate white hair,
C.J. Walker, washer woman in the American many others are against it.
Installation, 2009. South.
Formal Elements
She struggled with her own hair loss and developed a formula for hair growth that according to her was revealed in a dream. After successfully
marketing her hair grower she became famous as the first woman to become a millionaire on her own terms by marketing a successful line of beauty
and hair products for black women under the company she founded. The sculpture is life-size and with the hair dominates the space. Sophie, with her
closed eyes, is dreaming of a better life for herself, taking inspiration from C.J. Walker. She is lost in her own world of fantasy, lost in the dreams she
has spun. Interesting are Sophie’s large masculine hands which may refer to her determination to survive and her status as a worker.
124

Style of work In the Sex Show Works These works are drawn from
Stylised exhibition, viewers found her exposure to the notorious
themselves confronted by the Sex sex entertainment industry of
Kittens, nine of them, lined up on Bangkok. These works
the walls and crawling forwards. examined the inherent
Medium and Technique They are based on images from degradation of women that
‘Laser copy’, plastic, printed men’s magazines and are serve as a means of holiday
paper, acrylic paint sexually provocative with their relaxation for wealthy male
kneeling postures. tourists drawn to a world in
which sex with underage girls is
the norm. She was shocked by
the exploitative situation where
many of the young girls had
Title been swapped by their parents
Lisa Brice, Sex Show Works, for items like TV sets. This
‘Laser copy’, plastic, printed work relates to gender issues
paper, acrylic paint. 1993.. and the dehumanising of
women.
Formal Elements
Interestingly is that their faces consist only of pouting lips, while the rest is amputated – they are brainless sex machines. These 'cut-outs' have no
background and seem to be sexual toys until one looks at the surface imagery. The come-on seductiveness of the pose was completely contradicted by
the messages given off by a reading of the surface imagery. The first group show enlarged microscopic images of venereal diseases. The pretty
pictures on first glance change into something frightening once one realizes that as in Sex Kitten (Aids Virus) Don’t Fuck with Me a red Aids virus covers
the body which contrasts with the red fishnet stockings and red lipstick. The second group covers the financial aspect of the sex industry as in Sex
Kitten Cheap Cheap where the surface shows a one-hundred-dollar bill and French franc.
125

Style of work
Figuritive In this series, Barbie These series investigate
dolls were placed in female stereotypes – the
Medium and large exhibition cases origin of these stereotypes
Technique with vinyl images on and how they enter a
Barbie dolls, the glass. woman’s self-image. The
Perspex, wood, Barbie doll as a stereotypical
vinyl image of a woman is well-
known to Western women
that grew up with this doll and
strive to look like her. Barbie
Title with her swelling breasts,
Lisa Brice, Plastic small middle, long legs and
makes perfect, soft hair is a combination of a
Barbie dolls, woman’s ideal proportions,
Perspex, wood, without considering the real
vinyl, 1994. person within.
Formal Elements
The Barbie dolls create interesting patterns – they stand in rows or are shown with wide open legs.
They become a symbol of women seen as dolls.
The vinyl images on top change the meaning e.g. a profile drawing of a red brain – that the brain and thus the individuality of the woman is not
recognized.
The hand with money notes shows the importance of money in e.g. prostitution.
The colour is typical feminine – the pink dolls with the red images on top.
The title refers to the dolls with their seemingly ideal shape, but also to how plastic the ideal woman should be with cosmetic procedures.
126

Style of work
Figuritive Stripped (Oh’ yes Girl) is based Alexander made works that deal
on two prostitutes who worked strongly with gender issues. Her
near the home of the artist. The themes of violence and
one Alexander describes as the victim/aggressor are still visible, but
“Happy sex worker” and the other with empathy through the eyes of a
Medium and Technique as the “Unhappy sex worker”. She woman. This work deals with
Sculpture with found objects hangs from her armpits from a suffering and female mutilation. It is
metal armature not being able to filled with ambiguities. The character
stand on her own. The support is is at the same time seducer (look at
similar to those sold with early the long nails) and victim, and she is
renditions of the Barbie doll. A doll an object of fascination and abuse.
is a manufactured object, It is very beautiful, but also very
Title something that is played with and terrible.
Jane Alexander, Stripped (“Oh then discarded. Is this the
Yes” Girl), plaster, lace, twine, experience of women too?
calico, hair, oil paint, synthetic
nails, steel support, 1995.
Formal Elements
The Barbie dolls create interesting patterns – they stand in rows or are shown with wide open legs.
They become a symbol of women seen as dolls.
The vinyl images on top change the meaning e.g. a profile drawing of a red brain – that the brain and thus the individuality of the woman is not
recognized.
The hand with money notes shows the importance of money in e.g. prostitution.
The colour is typical feminine – the pink dolls with the red images on top.
The title refers to the dolls with their seemingly ideal shape, but also to how plastic the ideal woman should be with cosmetic procedures.
127
Acknowledgements to the developers
Mr. Phillip Manana

Ms. Carina Delport
Ms. Gcinile Luthuli
Ms. Ellene Louw
Mr. Cedric Ravele
Mr. Mmutle Tabane
128
129

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VISUAL ARTS

The guide focuses on TOPIC 3, Visual Culture Studies (theory). The

Guidelines on the following:

• how to analyse an artwork,

It is a wish that this guideline assists the Grade 12 candidate to

Indicate popular questions

THEME Artists discussed in Pages in

QUESTION 1 The voice of emerging artists George Pemba P16-53

• Questions appear on left-hand pages, with visual sources in colour on the

• The examination is externally marked and moderated provincially and

• The examination is assessed according to a national standardised

• Using the correct art terminology,

• Using and applying visual analysis and critical thinking,

• Writing and researching skills within a historical and cultural context,

• Placing of specific examples in a cultural, social, political, and historical context,

• Understanding individual creative styles.

HOW TO ANALYSE AN ARTWORK

A GUIDELINE: How to do a visual analysis of an artwork.

LABEL INFORMATION / DATA

DISCUSSION – UNPACKING OF FORMAL ART ELEMENTS AND DESIGN PRINCIPLES

INTERPRETATION / MEANING / CONTEXT

• Influences/inspirations on the artists (such as specific happenings / historic events/mayhems) and

LINE SHAPE / FORM TEXTURE

Actual Implied Abstracted Heavy Actual Rough

Blurred Meandering Angular Light Bumpy Sandy

Bold Ruled Asymmetrical Linear Coarse Shiny

Broken Short Biomorphic Massive Corrugated Simulated

Contour Straight Circular Open Fine Smooth

Gestural Weak Geometric Triangular

Bold Naturalistic Cast shadow, Moody Ambiguous

Brash Pale Contrasting Bright Background

Bright Polychromatic Dark Muted Closed

Calm Primary Dramatic Opaque Deep

Complementary Saturated High key Reflected light Flat

Contrasting Secondary Highlight Shaded Foreground

Cool Subdued Light Subtle Middle ground

Dull Subtle Low key Tinted Open

Dusty Tertiary Medium Transparent Overlapping

Earthy Tinted Midtown Positive / Negative

Exciting Vibrant Shallow

Garish Warm Three dimensional

Greyed Multicolour Tight

Arrangement Middle ground

Background Portrait format

Diagonal Landscape format

Directional lines Square format

Focal point Structure

COMPOSITION Horizontal Vertical

EMPHASIS RHYTHM & MOVEMENT SCALE

Even distribution Directional lines Large

Eye catching Dramatic Life size

Focal point Flowing Massive

Leading lines Flowing lines Miniature

Subordinate Optical illusion Monumental

Uneven distribution Pattern Small

Realistic proportion Balanced equal

Exaggerated Even unbalanced

Distorted Radial balance

Surrealist Top heavy

warm vs cool (complementary) large vs small