Ayanda Mabulu
Butcher in Chief
About the SessionThis auction explores the rich and varied ways artists represent the human form. Going beyond traditional depictions, the works delve into complex themes of identity and society, psychological states and emotion, issues of politics and power, and spirituality. The selection also repeatedly explores classic subjects such as the nude, mother and child, portraits, women and children. Through paintings, photographs, and sculptures, 'Embodied’ showcases figures in moments of quiet contemplation, passionate connection, daily labour, and rest. These artistic depictions offer a profound connection to our shared human experience, reflecting the very essence of how we live and feel in the world.
Featuring a diverse selection of familiar South African artists, including Irma Stern, Freida Lock, Maud Sumner, Alexis Preller, Robert Hodgins, Nelson Makamo and Durant Sihlali. The works on display, from Zen Marie to Joni Brenner, demonstrate how bodies inhabit time and space, serving as a powerful means for artists to explore identity, emotion, and existence.
The auction is led by two notable works from Peter Clarke. His 1956 piece, Seated Male Figure, is a subtle, monochromatic study in introspection. In contrast, Friday Night captures the intimacy between couples with a palpable sense of warmth and sensitivity.
A highlight in the sale is the lesser-known artist Hindy Rutenberg. Her pieces, Seated Girl and The Carpet Menders, are particularly intriguing. Rutenberg was an expressionist artist who received limited recognition during her lifetime, and these paintings offer a fascinating reanimation of a forgotten history. Her expressive, careful style shares qualities with artists like Irma Stern, whose celebrated portraits also show a delicate, painterly sensibility.
About this Item
Notes
"The work cites former president Jacob Zuma holding ropes in both hands painted on the old apartheid South African flag which includes the British, Orange Free State and Transvaal flags. With a smirk on his face, blood dripping from his expensive suit, his hands are filled with ropes effectively lynching two miners on both sides. The composition of the work takes on the form of triangle, reminiscent of Maslow's hierarchy of needs, the work demonstrates that the top needs the balance and stability of the bottom in order to survive. The work serves to highlight South Africa's reliance on the mining industry for economic gain, and yet it is the miners at the bottom who are found exposed, semi naked, barely making it out alive plagued by the illnesses that may arise due to poor working and living conditions in the mines and instances of hunger that comes from their low paid wages. The work references the strikes that happened at Marikana in 2012 that consequently led to the death of thirty four miners at the hands of the police on the sixteenth of August under the presidency of Jacob Zuma."¹
1. Tshegofatso Seoka (2020) Writers of History (unpublished).
Exhibited
The Artscape Theatre, Cape Town, Die Burger - 100 Years, 28 April to 3 May 2015.
CO Art, Online, Writers of History, 12 November 2020 to 28 February 2021.
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