Self-portrait,  (1993) 37m/.37m

Passive Resistance

In 1993, a competition sponsored by the Creative Arts Foundation was staged at the Civic Gallery. This was the only opportunity to do a sponsored public work of some stature in all the years I worked in Johannesburg. I was fortunate to win first prize in that competition.

It was a politically charged period. As the works of the two winning artists would be hung in the Civic Theatre, I settled on the idea of producing a painting which would acknowledge the role of the theatre in the struggle. Protest plays travelled the world. Equity bans on visiting productions from abroad put pressure on the National Party. Artists who wield words have a history of being a threat to existing power structures and mobilizing political resistance.

​

read more...