ZOMBIE BABYLON
Two paintings from my 2012 exhibition Zombie Babylon at Stevenson Johannesburg.
1 - Zombie Babylon 18. Acrylic on canvas. 130 x 200cm
2 - Zombie Babylon 17. Acrylic on canvas. 145 x 145cm
MONOTYPE
I decided to experiment a bit and printed a suite of monotypes while working on my latest woodcut (see my previous post).
It is a fusion of painted surfaces, printing inked up surfaces of found timber and plywood cut outs - combined with the last two stages of the woodcut in unique colours.
TWO TREES
Anton Kannemeyer and I recently released a limited edition set of two tree prints.
The first image is my print; « Olive Tree ». 4 colour Woodcut.
Second image Anton Kannemeyer: « Bloekomboom, Grootderm ».
2 colour Silkscreen.
@kannemeyer.anton@bitterkomix #woodcut #printmaking #silkscreen
Kyk, jy kan van dié ou Bitterballies, @kannemeyer.anton en @conradbotess van @bitterkomix , sê wat jy wil, maar dié twee skarminkels kán teken. Die vakmanskap en die omvang van fyn afgewerkte tekenkuns wat in hierdie nuwe boek ten toon gestel word, is duiselingwekkend. As hulle kitaarslaners was, sou jy gewonder het of hulle nie dalk diepnag ’n onheilige ooreenkoms by die Kruispad bereik het met ’n donker figuur wat in swawel gehul is nie.
My resensie van “Bitterkomix: Sketchbooks and Journals, 1991-2025”, wat by @painted_dog_press verskyn het, is vandag in Die Burger en is ook op @netwerk_24 beskikbaar.
Sketchbook Friday
Goya’s Timeline.
An excerpt from ‘Bitterkomix Sketchbooks and Journals’ published by Painted Dog Press. If you are in Cape Town, don’t miss our booksigning event at Vadas Smokehouse at Spier Winefarm on the 15th of November from 10-12am.
@bitterkomix@painted_dog_press@kannemeyer.anton@vadas_inc #sketchbookfriday
Earlier this year I decided to try making woodcut prints. At first I used birch plywood as printing blocks, as it was widely recommended. Then I decided to mill some of the Jacaranda wood stumps that I have collected for sculpture. I found that the Jacaranda is much denser than the plywood and overall a pleasure to work with. I also enjoy the irregular shape that these blocks provide. #woodcut #woodcutprint #printmakingpress
“Bitterkomix Sketchbooks and Journals” hot off the press!
Available online from bitterkomix.co.za
With more than a thousand images in full colour and over 228 pages, sized at 28 x 26cm.
Published by @painted_dog_press and distributed by @flyleaf_publishing_sa
In February this year I had an exhibition at Kalashnikovv Gallery in Cape Town. The title references Théodore Géricault’s iconic painting, “The Raft of the Medusa, and the subject for a small series of allegorical paintings.
One of my favourite paintings of all time, the last time I saw it in the Louvre was in 2022 with my wife and daughter. Completed in 1819, Gericault’s painting depicts the survivors of The Medusa, a French naval frigate that was wrecked off the coast of West Africa en route to Senegal in 1816. Although it portrays the scene of the survivors adrift on a raft in the open ocean, it also carried a powerful political subtext about French society, hopelessly adrift in a turbulent political landscape after a decade of European wars.
Long been regarded as a quintessentially Romantic painting, I find one of the most fascinating aspects about the work to be the erotic undertones in the way the victims are depicted. I did some online research, and all I could find was that the painting has NO erotic undertones and that the focus is on human vulnerability. Yet looking at the corpse depicted on the bottom right, I cannot look past the way the legs have been rendered and the cloth draped in the groin and conclude that the focus on eroticism was very intentional. I find the oscillation between sex and death fascinating and only amplifies the overwhelming feeling of hopelessness. What do you think?
First image:
After Gericault. Six colour reduction woodcut on Awagami paper.
Available from bitterkomix.co.za
Second image:
The Raft of the Medusa in the Louvre in Paris (my wife and daughter on the far left)
