An in depth summary on the Resistance art movement including artists, artworks, characteristics, subject matter, and influences on the movement. This summary describes the different artists in South Africa who expressed their feelings towards apartheid and a post-democratic South Africa.
Art Theory - Resistance Art
Tuesday, 10 September 2024
15:11
Reflected injustices that occurred during Apartheid
Jane Alexander
o Worked from a personal perspective of being a white woman in South Africa but
does not try to understand the oppression, she only shows the suffering
o Depicts the alienated group of people who do not really belong in society
o Interested in anatomy as a form of expression so her sculptures are usually related
to human figure
o Work is figurative
o Works are usually life sized and dramatic
o Combines hybrids between humans and animals which forces the audience to
rethink human behaviour
o Ambiguity is a consistent theme in her works
Butcher Boys - Jane Alexander
o Has themes of mutilation and ambiguity
o Emphasises the brutality of the Apartheid government to inflict violence in the 80's
o Work became a symbol of institutionalised violence
o The title implies they are violent killers
o Three beast-like figures sit on a bench naked, except for their genitals being covered,
making them genderless
o They are very masculine but have some feminine features like the curled horns
o They seem powerful but their bodies are damaged
o Faces are barely human - no mouths represents not being able to communicate and
not having voice of reasoning
o They also have no ears and are completely mutilated - no sensory so no sensitivity to
the world
o They are possibly victims of something as well
o Their sitting position shows passiveness and anxiety as they appear to be waiting for
something
o Represents the relationship between the victim and the perpetrator
o Alexander explores how cruelty, pain and suffering are conveyed through the human
body
o There is an ambiguious relationship between the viewer and the work because at
first glance the viewer is revolted but then you question what had to happen to
them for them to end up like that
o Violence and aggression are shown in the same body as helplessness
o The aspect of death is shown through the use of bones and skull that poke out from
their flesh
o They reflect Alexander's belief that an insecure society makes everyone an aggressor
and a victim
o They are both the butcher and the butchered
Jane Alexander - Integration Programme: Man with a TV
o Man from a rural area has come to city to look for a job and better life
o Dressed uncomfortably in his Sunday best
o He is a victim because he is ill-prepared and out of place in the city, but the
alternative is being a victim to township life
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