William Kentridge
Artist
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"My drawings don't start with a 'beautiful mark'," says South African born Kentridge at the launch of his exhibition Five Themes at ACMI recently. Premiering in Australia after travelling to San Francisco, New York,
Paris, Vienna, Jerusalem and Moscow, the exhibition explores five key themes that have captivated Kentridge throughout his career. Kentridge is of expressionist lineage and is perhaps best known for his stop motion films of charcoal drawings, as well as other
multi-disciplinary work which includes drawings, prints, sculptures and books. Kentridge's work often traverses the political and social environment of his home country, while exploring the private and personal of the artist at work in his studio. In his animated works in particular, the concepts of time and change appear as major themes. He conveys it through his erasure technique, which contrasts with conventional cel-shaded animation. Traces of what has been erased are still visible to the viewer; as the films unfold, a sense of fading memory or the passing of time and the traces it leaves behind are portrayed. In Five Themes Kentridge grapples with what is not said, what remains suppressed or forgotten but can easily be felt.
William Kentridge: Five Themes
Australian Centre For The Moving Image (ACMI)
8 March - 27 May 2012