William Kentridge Atlas Procession II, 2000 (detail).
Alex McDonald - William Kentridge
06 September 2004
William Kentridge is able to create living, breathing worlds using charcoal on paper. An exceptional drawer, he is one of the few, truly great, contemporary artists. Organised by the Castello di Ravoli in Turin, this survey of over seventy works is also heading to Germany, Canada and South Africa. To say that the MCA is fortunate to be one of the institutions to hold the exhibition is an understatement.
The amount of time that Kentridge has invested in this body of work is impressive. Aside from the countless drawings, sculptures, puppet shows and installations, there are also numerous animated films, works that are central to his output. The archaic look of these films is created through a laborious process of drawing, erasing and then re-drawing. These works are not short, time-based sketches, but a series of sprawling, visual narratives that constantly unravel in organic and unexpected ways.
Kentridge’s ongoing animation project Drawings for Projection (1989-2004) focuses on two main characters. The first is Soho Eckstein, a Johannesburg industrialist; the other is Felix Teitlebaum, a tortured artist. Both resemble Kentridge himself. The animations respond to the underlying conditions that faced those living in South Africa under apartheid.
It has been widely acknowledged that William Kentridge’s art is politically motivated because he traces the legacy of apartheid in his work. Yet to simply label Kentridge’s art as political seems potentially misleading. Kentridge himself has said, “I am interested in a political art, that is to say an art of ambiguity, contradiction, uncomplicated gestures and uncertain endings.”
Our inability to easily decipher Kentridge’s own political position is a testament to the sophistication of his art. Explosive issues like apartheid, war and industrialisation are not treated as recent events but rather, as fragile, archaic pieces of history from a darker time. Indeed, viewing this collection is like stepping into a time warp, with black and white films being projected onto antique dressers and drawings placed on everything from old vinyl records to maps and faded manuscripts. By distancing himself from these still painful memories, Kentridge is able to make some profound observations.
As gut wrenching as his work can be, there is also a subtle playfulness to it. This is most apparent in the centre room where several short looping films show Kentridge working in his studio. One in particular sees the artist emerge from a charcoal image. Once he appears the room is emptied. He then proceeds to mend a torn drawing, a self-portrait of himself. The film has in fact been reversed, creating the illusion that the paper has been miraculously repaired from several ripped scraps. Once the drawing has been completed he walks out, before once again emerging from the drawn image.
William Kentridge is not the only thing on at the MCA at the moment, there is also the excellent Primavera 2004 Exhibition and Jan Nelson & Liza May Post on the fourth floor. Exhibitions as fine as these really don’t come along very often.
More Information
William Kentridge
Until 28 November
Museum of Contemporary Art, The Rocks, Sydney
Details: (02) 9252 4033
Admission is free
Website: http://www.mca.com.au
