Notes

The date of this work is unrecorded, but it was collected between 1990 and 1993.

Fanlo Johannes Mkhize, more commonly known by his nickname ‘Chicken Man’, sold his works on the lawns outside of the Tatham Art Gallery in Pietermaritzburg in the 1980s. Initially catering to the local art market, his work was later included on important exhibitions such as The Neglected Tradition (1988) and the Art from South Africa exhibition organised at the Museum of Modern Art in Oxford (1990). He is represented in public collections including the Johannesburg Art Gallery and Wits Art Museum. He gained international fame after one of his works ‘Butisi tart?’ (But is it art?) was chosen as the unofficial logo of the 1995 Johannesburg Biennale.

Mkhize designed movable objects, such as this one, as puppets to be used in street performances.

Provenance

Acquired by the current owner from the Wits Art Museum Endowment Auction, 2015.

Literature

Julia Charlton (ed) (2015) Wits Art Museum Endowment Auction, catalogue, Johannesburg: Wits Art Museum, illustrated in colour on page 36.