Ezrom Legae, 1938-1999, born South Africa Search this
Medium:
Bronze
Dimensions:
H x W x D: 84.4 x 45 x 26.4 cm (33 1/4 x 17 11/16 x 10 3/8 in.)
Type:
Sculpture
Geography:
South Africa
Date:
1991
Label Text:
Ezrom Legae created works showing animals in an injured state or distorted posture to symbolize the human condition under apartheid. In this sculpture, cast in two separate pieces, he reconfigures Michelangelo's Pietà--the mother of Christ holding her dead son. In many African cultures the goat is the premier sacrificial animal. In "Sacrifice" the goat represents the black activist who protests acts of violence against his people.
Description:
Sculpture of a stylized seated female figure on a u-shape bench holding a dead goat.
Exhibition History:
Conversations: African and African American Artworks in Dialogue - From the Collections of the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art and Camille O. and William H. Cosby, Jr., National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, November 7, 2014-January 24, 2016
African Art, African Voices: Long Steps Never Broke a Back, Philadelphia Museum of Art, October 2, 2004-January 2, 2005; Cincinnati Art Museum, October 8, 2005-January 1, 2006
Insights, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., February 27 to November 28, 2004
African-American South African Shared Understanding, Morehouse College, Atlanta, July 22-28, 2002 (part of a symposium)
Contemporary Sculpture, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., November 3, 1999-June 18, 2002
Claiming Art / Reclaiming Space: Post Apartheid Art from South Africa, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., June 21-September 26, 1999
Published References:
Debela, Achamyeleh and William B. Karg, Sylvester Okwunodu Ogbechie and John Peffer. 1990. An Exhibit of Contemporary African Art. Washington, D.C.: EarthHues, World Space.
Kreamer, Christine Mullen and Adrienne L. Childs (eds). 2014. Conversations: African and African American Artworks in Dialogue from the Collections of the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art and Camille O. and William H. Cosby, Jr. Washington, D.C.: National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, pp. 102-103, 114, no. 65, pl. 44.
Roberts, Mary Nooter. 1996. "Ezrom Kgobokanyo Legae." Dak'Art 96: Biennale De L'Art Africain Contemporain. Paris: <Cimaise>, pp. 74-77.
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