Notes

William Kentridge’s Blue Head was made during the early nineties, a transitional period in South Africa: after the release of Nelson Mandela and before the first democratic elections in 1994. This was a period of extreme intensity, of enormous possibility and the looming threat that the process towards democracy might be derailed by violence.

Internationally revered, Kentridge’s imposing and emblematic Blue Head magnificently captures a moment in the country’s troubled history, the monumental disembodied head with closed eyes poignantly and optimistically facing upwards while the picture plane bears the painful scars of a turbulent and violent society.

Drawing continues to be the core of all Kentridge’s work, whether a drawing to create singular works on paper, drawing for printmaking, for sculpture or filmed projection. Though quiet and still, his drawing and printmaking are as varied and complex as his films and his large-scale projects found in major centres throughout the world.¹

¹ Adapted from: Susan Stewart (2006). ‘Resistance and Ground: The Prints of William Kentridge’, in Bronwyn Law-Viljoen (ed.) William Kentridge Prints, Johannesburg: David Krut Publishing.

Provenance

Purchased from Robert Brown Gallery, Washington D.C., May 1999.

Literature

Bronwyn Law-Viljoen (ed.) (2006). William Kentridge Prints, Parkwood: David Krut Publishing, another imprint from this edition is illustrated in colour on page 47.