William Kentridge

William Kentridge: Anything is Possible

           William Kentridge was one of the few artist that I really enjoyed this semester.  He used charcoal as his primary medium, and constructed videos for his pieces.  Kentridge's art is very time consuming and detail laden. Kentridge was a white Suath African Jew, and his heritage plays into his art a lot.  He also showed some resounding anti-communist ideas.

           

               His art is very unique. he draws a picture in charcoal, films it, then erases it and starts again.  The massive effort put into his art really pays off, though. The video is amazing.  

         

            Kentridge also does etches, scultpture, some collages, and even opera.  He wrote one opera entitled "Nose", a metaphor for communism that involves a person's nose running away from them.

             Kentridge is a diverse artist, a unique artist, and most importantly, a good artist. His art has a feel of overwhelming depression, but is done in an elegant way. His art reminds me a lot of a more refined Ralph Steadman. All in all, Kentridge is a great artist.