Exhibiiton dates: 14th March – 31st May 2009
One of my favourite artists in the world. His technique – the palimpsestic nature of his practice where the history, memories and spaces of previous drawings are overwritten again and again on a single piece of paper without their ever being lost (unlike traditional animation techniques) – is amazing. His use of drawing, animation and the camera to record narratives of connection always has personal and archetypal themes – love, loss, bigotry, big business, persecution, reconciliation and social conflict in the stories of his homeland South Africa. His perspective on the world, his knowledge of books and philosophy, his understanding that stories exist as faint, legible remains completes the perception that he is an artist drawn to the line of the world. His work is moving and compassionate as all great art should be.
![William Kentridge. Drawing for the film Stereoscope [Felix Crying]' 1998–99](http://artblart.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/kentridge2.jpg?w=655&h=503 "William Kentridge. 'Drawing for the film Stereoscope [Felix Crying]' 1998–99")
William Kentridge
‘Drawing for the film Stereoscope [Felix Crying]‘
1998–99
“Combining the political with the poetic, William Kentridge’s work has made an indelible mark on the contemporary art scene. Dealing with subjects as sobering as apartheid and colonialism, Kentridge often imbues his art with dreamy, lyrical undertones or comedic bits of self-deprecation, making his powerful messages both alluring and ambivalent. Perhaps best known for his stop-motion films of charcoal drawings, the internationally renowned South African artist also works in etching, collage, sculpture, and the performing arts, opera in particular. This exhibition explores five primary themes that have engaged Kentridge over the last three decades through a comprehensive selection of his work from the 1980s to the present. Concentrating on his most recent production and including many pieces that have not been seen in the United States, the exhibition reveals as never before the full arc of his distinguished career.”
Text from the SFMOMA website
Multimedia videos that illuminate William Kentridge’s creative process, his characters and the use of music in his “drawings for projection.”
“Although his hand-drawn animations are often described as films, Kentridge himself prefers to call them “drawings for projection.” He makes them using a distinctive technique in which he painstakingly creates, erases, and reworks charcoal drawings that are photographed and projected as moving image. Movement is generated within the image, by the artist’s hand; the camera serves merely to record its progression. As such, the animations explore a tension between material object and time-based performance, uniquely capturing the artist’s working process while telling poignant and politically urgent stories.”
Text from Artdaily.org website
More videos of William Kentridge work are available on You Tube
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
151 Third Street
San Francisco CA 94103
Tel: 415.357.4000
William Kentridge on Wikipedia
Thankx Viktoryia glad u like the blog
Marcus
Wow! What a job! Never heard of him… Glad I found your blog!