William Kentridge

2 September - 28 November 2004

This major international exhibition presents over 70 works from the 1970s to the present day by internationally renowned South African artist William Kentridge. Including early drawings, etchings, animated films, recent sculpture, and new film works, Tide Table, Fragments for Georges Méliès, and Journey to the Moon, the exhibition offers a distinctive vision of the complex history of South Africa, the legacy of apartheid and more broadly, the nature of human emotions and memory.

A major component of the exhibition is the presentation of the artist’s best-known film series, Drawings for Projection, which began in 1989. Originating as charcoal drawings these animated films, are created through a unique process of erasure and re-drawing. Reflecting the artist’s desire to make sense of the turbulent and violent times which characterised the later period of Apartheid, the works address the significant historical events in South Africa in the 1980s and 1990s. Through the imaginary saga of a Johannesburg industrialist, Soho Eckstein, and his alter ego - the naked, sensual artist, lover and dreamer, Felix Teitlebaum - Kentridge portrays the realities of daily life alongside the broader moral and ethical issues faced by the developing nation of South Africa and communities the world over. The ninth and newest instalment, Tide Table, returns to the central characters of Soho and Felix, who are now living in the post-apartheid world.

William Kentridge was organised by the Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea, Torino, Italy, where it opened in January 2004. It is currently showing at the Kunstsammlug Nordrhein-Westfalen in Düsseldorf, Germany (27 March – 31 May 2004). Following the MCA Sydney exhibition, it travels to the Musée d’ Art Contemporain, Montréal, Canada (10 February – 23 April 2005) and the Johannesburg Art Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa (1 July – 31 October 2005).

Special events programmed in association with this exhibition include a conversation between the artist and curator, a screening of the inspirational documentary Amandla! A revolution in four-part harmony animation workshops for adults and school holiday programs for kids of all ages. For more information go to the events section of the MCA site.

ADMISSION: FREE

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