Garth Erasmus, born 1956, South Africa Search this
Medium:
Acrylic on paper
Dimensions:
H x W: 78.6 x 51.3 x 3.5 cm (30 15/16 x 20 3/16 x 1 3/8 in.)
Type:
Drawing and Collage
Geography:
South Africa
Date:
1995
Label Text:
This work belongs to a collage series made from posters collected by the artist. The "muse" refers to the process of pondering rather than artistic inspiration. Created just after the 1994 elections, the collages speak to the long history of division between South Africa's black, white and "colored" (mixed-race, south Asian and Arab) peoples and call for a peaceful reassembling of the country's disparate parts. By recycling posters and employing the collage technique, Erasmus reformulates and reinvigorates the old. His process serves as a metaphor for making a better South Africa.
The backside of this image shows a witch doctor's face, superimposed on the poster's imagery, with glaring white-washed dreadlocks.
Exhibition History:
Encounters with the Contemporary, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., January 7, 2001-January 6, 2002
Published References:
Hornbeck, Stephanie E. 2009. "A Conservation Conundrum: Ephemeral Art at the National Museum of African Art." African Arts 42 (3), p. 53, no. 1.
Content Statement:
As part of our commitment to accessibility and transparency, the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art is placing its collection records online. Please note that some records are incomplete (missing image or content descriptions) and others reflect out-of-date language or systems of thought regarding how to engage with and discuss cultural heritage and the specifics of individual artworks. If you see content requiring immediate action, we will do our best to address it in a timely manner. Please email nmafacuratorial@si.edu if you have any questions.
Image Requests:
High resolution digital images are not available for some objects. For publication quality photography and permissions, please contact the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives at https://africa.si.edu/research/eliot-elisofon-photographic-archives/
