Important South African & International Art, Decorative Arts & Jewellery

Live Auction, 16 March 2015

Cape & Colonial Silver, Furniture & Dec Arts, The Harvey Collection of Africana & SA & Int Art

Sold for

ZAR 7 026
Lot 532
  • Brett Murray; Eyesight to the Blind


Lot Estimate
ZAR 6 000 - 8 000
Selling Price
Incl. Buyer's Premium & VAT
ZAR 7 026

About this Item

South African 1961-
Eyesight to the Blind

signed, dated 2008 and numbered 2/25 in pencil in the margin

screenprint
sheet size: 58,5 by 42cm

Exhibited

Iziko South African National Gallery, Cape Town, Brave New World...20 Years of Democracy, July 3, 2014 - November 19, 2014. Another example from the edition was exhibited.

Literature

Chris Thurman (2009) 'Art's Sarcastic Truths', The Weekender, Saturday 28th February 2009.

Indeed, this has become a pattern under BBE, BBBEE, GEAR, AsgiSA and other initiatives for economic development that have been unable to prevent greedy individuals from profiting enormously in the name of transformation. Accordingly, Murray’s “Eyesight to the Blind” is an optometrist’s chart which, if you read the (obvious) fineprint, equates U-BU-NTU with a dollar sign.

Bettina Malcomess (2008) Crocodile Tear-y: Brett Murray at the Goodman Gallery, [Online], Available: http://www.artthrob.co.za/08may/reviews/goodmanc.html [2015/01/13].

Certain works come closest to a surrealist aesthetic that I felt contained moments of ambiguity, and self-reflection, which is productively at odds with this one-liner ethic. This is particularly true of Murray's text works, such as Eyesight to the Blind, which sees an eye-test made from the word 'UBUNTU'.

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