Print
text 
Enlarge Image with caption.
Head
1994
Charcoal, pastel and tempera on paper
98-12-1, purchased with funds provided by the Annie Laurie Aitken Endowment
b. 1955, South Africa
William Kentridge received a degree in political science and African studies,
which informs his work as an artist. Performance also plays a central
role in his work—he founded a theater company, studied mime and theater
in Paris and, from 1982 to 1984, was art director for television series
and feature films. Through his distinctive charcoal drawings, animated
films and performances, Kentridge creates short lyrical narratives and
commentary on the political oppression and industrial exploitation of
South African people and landscapes.
In 1989 Kentridge began making short animated films by photographing his
charcoal drawings with a video camera and altering them in minute ways
to move the story forward. The drawing and erasure of charcoal lines conjures
an atmosphere of selective historical memory. Through a vast range of
creative media, Kentridge constructs moral allegories out of lines and
erasure to explore themes of love and betrayal, oppression and violence,
death and regeneration.
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