GRADE 12 VISUAL CULTURE STUDIES SUMMARIES Artists discussed QUESTION 1 Emerging artists of South Africa Gerard Sekoto, The song of the Pick Gerard Sekoto, Prison Yard George Pemba, Portrait of a young Xhosa woman George Pemba, Eviction – Woman and Child QUESTION 2 South African artists influenced by African and/or indigenous art forms Irma Stern, Pondo Woman Irma Stern, The Hunt Walter Battiss, Fishermen Drawing Nets Walter Battiss, Symbols of Life QUESTION 3 Socio-political – including Resistance art of the ’70s and ’80s Jane Alexander, Butcher Boys Jane Alexander, Bom Boys Manfred Zylla, Bullets and Sweets Manfred Zylla, Death Trap QUESTION 4 Art, craft and spiritual works mainly from rural South Africa John Muafangejo. Judas Iscariot betrayed our Lord Jesus for R3.00 John Muafangejo. New archbishop Desmond Tutu Enthroned Jackson Hlungwani. Large Crucifix and star Jackson Hlungwani, Leaping Fish QUESTION 5 Multimedia and New media – alternative contemporary and popular art forms in South William Kentridge, Johannesburg, 2nd Greatest City after Paris William Kentridge. Shadow Procession Van der Merwe, Biegbak/Confessional
QUESTION 2: South African artists influenced by African and/or indigenous art forms STYLE OF WORK Stylized / abstracted MEDIUM AND TECHNIQUE Neat, smooth finish and the lack of tonal values TITLE: Walter Battiss, Symbols of Life, oil on canvas, undated. MESSAGE AND MEANING The title of the work tells the story behind the work. It also celebrates life and pays homage to the heritage of our first artists. This is an example of one of Battiss’ conceptual interpretations of what he learned from rock art. In it he did not copy rock art, but created a personalised symbolic system that tells about Battiss’ ideas about life and spirituality. It is a typical work by Battiss in its mystery and symbolism. SUBJECT AND DESCRIPTION In this work there are also pictographs and abstract shapes that cover the whole surface. It is a very linear work where figures representing people, animals, reptiles and termites are stylized into simplified and original shapes. The title provides a clue to possible meanings. A river divides the painting in two. It is the symbolic story of the river and the varied life that it sustains. The river is the magical or godlike power. The middle shape could also be seen as cross-section of an 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. hill
QUESTION 3: Socio-political art – including Resistance art of the ’70s and ’80s STYLE OF WORK Naturalistic MEDIUM AND TECHNIQUE Pencil drawing with careful rendering of the forms in light and dark. TITLE: Manfred Zylla, Bullets and Sweets, pencil and watercolour, 1985 MESSAGE AND MEANING This diptych refers to peculiar desire of the leaders of the South African Defense force to be loved by the township children in spite of the army’s usually monstrous behaviour towards them. Every now and then the army would send a Casspir full of soldiers into the townships not to hand out the usual retribution (shooting, beating up and arresting people), but to distribute leaflets to the people reading, ‘We are your friends' or to play a game of soccer, or to hand out sweets. Of course, on such occasions the press is welcomed to report in the next day’s newspapers. Zylla critised apartheid in this work by showing the atrocities experienced by people living under the effects of apartheid. SUBJECT , DESCRIPTION & FORMAL ART ELEMENTS Zylla used these events to create a powerful diptych. The right panel is dominated by a brawny soldier with a half-smile on his face. He is viewed from under and is a huge presence as looks down the barrel of his gun. The row of bullets emerged from his crotch. In his bag a Cape Dutch homestead and a sausage on the fork appears as reference to his heritage. The soldier is however not shooting bullets, but rather sweets which lie at the feet of a small group of township children. 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.