Notes

Kentridge's work reflects a deep engagement with issues of history and memory. This unique drawing, an early example and seminal work by the artist, prefigures his more recent environmentally conscious projects. In this drawing, the rhinoceros appears penned by the perimeter walling in the background that is topped with razor wire and punctuated by signs of human activity. The encroaching landscape beyond the subject reflects the territory of the animal that is being progressively usurped by human intervention. Neal Benezra has observed how “the depiction of nature becomes an independent and important theme in the artist’s more recent work.” This theme was developed during the 1990s and resulted in the drawing series entitled Colonial Landscapes of 1995-6. Rhino is an early example of this theme which has become a prominent feature of the artist’s work.¹

¹ Benezra, Neal. William Kentridge: Drawings for Projection. From Kentridge, William. William Kentridge / essays, Neal Benezra…[et al.]. Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago ; New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York, in association with H.N. Abrams, 2001. page 21