Provenance

The Collection of Professor Murray Schoonraad.

Literature

Murray Schoonraad (1976) Walter Battiss, South African Art Library Cape Town: C Struik, another impression from the edition illustrated in black and white on page 13.

Jillian Carman and Susan Isaac (eds) (2005) Walter Battiss: Gentle Anarchist, exhibition catalogue, Johannesburg: Standard Bank Gallery, another impression from the edition illustrated in colour on page 51.

Warren Siebrits (ed) (2016) Walter Battiss: "I Invented Myself", exhibition catalogue, Johannesburg: The Ampersand Foundation, another impression from the edition illustrated on page 121 and 312, cat. no. 1973.01 S8*.

Notes

The present lot, titled Fook Island, and the following lot, Fook Island Coinage (lot 56), represent the full manifestation of Walter Battiss's revolutionary 'Fook' concept. Born from a profound desire for artistic and personal liberation, Fook Island was not a physical place, but an elaborate, meticulously conceived imaginary island. It was a utopian realm where conventional rules and societal constraints dissolved. A world uniquely desirable to Battiss during the oppressive strictures and pervasive censorship of the Apartheid government in South Africa. In a reality where creative expression was stifled and freedom curtailed, the urgent need for such an unfettered space became a driving force behind his most imaginative output.

Fook Island became Battiss's ultimate act of artistic freedom. A fully imagined civilisation complete with its own history, flag, postage stamps, currency, flora and fauna, archaeological sites, and most notably, its own unique language. It was a whimsical, often satirical, yet deeply philosophical escape not only from the art world's commercial pressures but, more significantly, from the severe constraints of the real world he inhabited.

The present lot features a vibrant, undulating green landscape with stylized mountains under a playful blue sky, typical of an idyllic island. Scattered across the canvas are various elements of the Fook civilisation: distinctive glyphs and ideograms representing its unique language, abstract structures in bright yellows and pinks, and a bold flag in red and brown with a central circle, solidifying the visual identity of this invented realm.

Through Fook, Battiss championed the idea that art could transcend boundaries, create new realities, and invite viewers into a shared space of uninhibited imagination and creative play, offering a poignant contrast to the stifling environment of his time.