William Kentridge: Five Themes

Category: Exhibition
Year: 2009
Institution: San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco
Comment: Combining the political with the poetic, William Kentridge's work has made an indelible mark on the contemporary art scene. Dealing with subjects as sobering as apartheid and colonialism, Kentridge often imbues his art with dreamy, lyrical undertones or comedic bits of self-deprecation, making his powerful messages both alluring and ambivalent. Perhaps best known for his stop-motion films of charcoal drawings, the internationally renowned South African artist also works in etching, collage, sculpture, and the performing arts, opera in particular. This exhibition explores five primary themes that have engaged Kentridge over the last three decades through a comprehensive selection of his work from the 1980s to the present. Concentrating on his most recent production and including many pieces that have not been seen in the United States, the exhibition reveals as never before the full arc of his distinguished career. Acknowledging the profound significance of the theater in Kentridge's work, SFMOMA will present his restaging of Monteverdi's opera The Return of Ulysses in conjunction with the exhibition.(source:San Francisco Museum of Modern Art)