colour screenprint on Arches Créme wove paper

Artwork date: 1989
Signature details: signed, numbered 6/25 in pencil and embossed with The Caversham Press chop mark in the margin
Edition: from an edition of 25 of which only 15 were printed
Exhibited: The Museum of Modern Art, New York City, William Kentridge: Five Themes, 24 February to 17 May 2010.
Literature: Geers, K. (1997). Contemporary South African Art: The Gencor Collection. Johannesburg: Jonathan Ball Publishers. Another example from this edition illustrated in colour on p.69. Borman, J. and Siebrits, W. (2001). Aspects of South African Art. Johannesburg: Johans Borman and Warren Siebrits. Another example from this edition illustrated in colour on p.41.; Law-Viljoen, B. (2006). William Kentridge Prints. New York: David Krut Projects, Another example illustrated in colour on p.36.

(1)

image size: 158 x 109 cm; framed size: 175 x 125 x 2 cm

Private collection, Johannesburg.

Notes:

"This monumental print was made in 1989, the year the South African government announced a program of social and political reform, and the print conveys a sense of social antagonism through figures whose tongues are entangled. The work marks a shift in Kentridge's screenprinting from theater posters and protest work to fine art, though the brown background of this image recalls the inexpensive brown paper he used for his earliest posters."Gallery label from William Kentridge: Five Themes, February 24–May 17, 2010. William Kentridge has established himself world-wide as an artist whose work engages with the politics of his day. This large-scale, impressive print was produced as South Africa’s institutionalised system of racial segregation was coming to an end in the early 1990s, in a series of steps that led to the formation of a democratic government in 1994. Bringing his political insights to bear on his growing expertise in printmaking, Kentridge captures the ensuing conflict and upheaval through these two figures who find themselves in deep water, their tongues entangled in an explosive exchange of contrary ideas. Marking a shift in Kentridge’s screenprinting from his earlier theatre posters and protest work to fine art, this astonishing print captures the impact of opposing forces in the bold contrast of the print medium pushed to an unprecedented scale.Another example of this edition is in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art, New York. Printed by the Caversham Press, KwaZulu-Natal.