Notes

Johannes Fanlo Mkhize, more commonly known by his nickname ‘Chickenman’, 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. Mkhize’s nickname, an amalgamation of animal and man, is apt in more ways than one. In Dog and rider we detect his interest in mixing the two, with the rider and the dog blending into one shape, further emphasising this relationship between nature and culture, animals and people.

Provenance

Donated by Trent Read