South African illustrator Anton Kannemeyer’s solo show E is for Exhibition is opening at the Stevenson Gallery in Johannesburg today.
Much of his work is autobiographical – see his My Nelson Mandela comic strip below. He uses a ‘range of working methods that include comics, sketches, text-based works and large-scale paintings’ to satirise ‘everything from himself to commodity fetishisation’.
Kannemeyer polarises audiences with his sharp but (consciously) crude caricatures of South African society. The Stevenson states ‘many of these works use the day-to-day realities of South Africa to shine a light onto universal issues, such as systemic racism, religious dogma, power and censorship.’
Some might label it racist while others see it as a fearless take on South Africa’s splintered present. What do you think?
Here’s a selection of his work to help you decide:
R is for Rainbow Nation from the series Alphabet of Democracy, 2010
E is for Exhibition is running from October 1 to November 13, 2015 at the Stevenson Gallery, Johannesburg.