Notes

Johannes Phokela was born in Soweto and studied at FUBA academy, Central St. Martin’s College of Art & Design, Camberwell College and the Royal College of Art, London, where he was awarded an MA in 1993. Phokela is represented in major public collections, such as the National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian, Washington; Standard Bank Corporate Collection, Johannesburg; and Iziko South African National Gallery.

Inspired by prints of 17th and 18th century European paintings, which were available at low cost in Soweto during Phokela’s youth, he draws on these to critique colonialism, and contemporary politics, economy and culture. In this image, taken from Rubens’ The Head of Medusa (1617–18), Phokela added a credit card, a line of cocaine and a severed hand with fingers holding a joint. Trustafarian is a term used in England to refer to a young privileged white person who adopts a rasta lifestyle and lives in non-affluent urban areas even though they have money, or ‘trust’ funds. ‘… Medusa … was a renowned beauty eventually turned into a monster by her jealous rival. If there is … any meaning to this painting, Trustafarian is … about peer pressure, and differences between those who have means to go to luxurious rehabs and those who rot in the streets.’

Provenance

Private donor