This research report is an attempt to position Michael MacGarry’s sculptures within a context of critiques of nationalisms in the postcolonial state. Looking specifically at Zulu and Afrikaner nationalism in South Africa, I consider the constructed nature of nationalism and highlight how it is always an imposition of rigidity upon the organic flow of peoples through spaces. By exploring the theme of the phallic signifier in conjunction with multiple conceptions of the fetish in Michael MacGarry’s work, I explore the idea of competing nationalisms in South Africa. My research is a contribution to the existing literature on MacGarry in that it explores these readings of his work through a psychoanalytic framework. I show how MacGarry’s work engages psychoanalytic discourses in relation to social and political formations in order to critique the construction and reproduction of state control through representations of the body politic, a concept articulated by Nicholas Mirzoeff (1993). MacGarry has created his sculptures in such a way that they can be read through all major registers of the fetish: ethnographic, Marxist, psychoanalytic and Modernist

In this text I consider Andries Botha's work over the period 1977 to 2007. I particularly look at Botha's creative response to the period of change in which he has worked and at his own considerations of works of art as acts of creative citizenship and private creativity. The text is based largely on interviews with Botha wherein he discusses his intentions and gives insight into the character of his creative imagination. In light of the interviews I write on individual works in detail, giving attention, to a certain extent, to chronology. During the late 1970s Botha was particularly concerned with establishing a sculptural language that would be expressive of his experience as a South African creative artist in the time of turbulence in the country and of paradox in his own circumstances as liberal thinker and inheritor of a conservative Afrikaner Nationalist background. Botha's creative output has been considerable. He commenced his career in a period of waning modernity and an increasing presence of Postmodernist culture. In his works of the 1980s he makes use of conceptual means – installation, assemblage, multiples, technology and unusual materials to express, through myth and allegory, his understanding of aspects of the human condition. The many associations, aesthetic, historical and political, regarding land, in a South African and in an international context, also became his concern. He sought to look at the affects on selfhood in the wake of apartheid, considering particularly the Afrikaner male and indigenous women, with especial reference to KwaZulu- Natal. He has been particularly interested in the effects of the abuse of power in a local and in an international sphere and in the situation of subaltern peoples in the aftermath of domination. When Botha commenced studies at the (then) University of Natal, the prevailing philosophical attitude was Humanism, and his attitude to social responsibility is often markedly humanistic. His own thinking regarding his creative work coincided in many aspects with Marxist aesthetic. A development of Postmodernist thinking occurred in South Africa with the writing of Die Sestigers, who had had large contact with French philosophical writing of mid-twentieth century. Botha's challenge, as was that of Die Sestigers, was to take cognisance of international thinking and at the same time to work creatively within an experience of the South African locale. Botha's reading of Merleau-Pontys' writings on phenomenology influenced him to respond to the immediacy of experience and record that response in his work. Largeness is a distinguishing feature of his art which I discuss in connection with the character of the sublime, as perceived by Burke. The character of duende, as seen by Lorca, is also distinctive to Botha's art and is used by him creatively to effect catharsis. He shows responsibility in his creative citizenship and in his private creativity in understanding and meeting the changes of the time. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2009.

It was both by luck and by accident that Dirk Charley van der Mescht's creations were discovered as a topic for research ... a recluse who lived out in what seemed to be the middle of nowhere. It was said of this man that he was a strange person who produced even stranger works. On investigation it was discovered that he was an Outsider sculptor by the name of D. C. van der Mescht. He and his family live at a small railway siding, known as Zuney, eighteen kilometres west of Alexandria. Isolated, uneducated and untutored, he had created an environment of sculptures for no apparent reason at all. The only explanation he appeared to be able to offer is that: he just does it. Intro. p. 1.

M.A. (Art History) / The sculpture of the mature artist Edoardo Villa is characterised by sequences of apparently contrasting phases. Analysis reveals that formal ideas from earlier periods are freely combined in new variations. Formal ideas unfold and are brought to fruition in a continuous development. Form, however, can never be analysed without considering its meaning. Previous writers on the sculpture of Edoardo Villa have, at various stages, identified most of its typical formal characteristics and indicated the meanings of specific phases. This thesis sets out to study, systematically and chronologically, Villa's whole oeuvre up to 1979. The evolution of his formal language, and the concomitant shifts of emphasis in meaning can be traced. Accordingly the sculptures seem to fall roughly into eleven groups. The first chapter examines Villa's formative years in a classical Italian Humanist context, albeit in the Fascist period, and then his early years in South Africa (c. 1935-1957). From 1947 rapid changes occurred, both in form and meaning. ·A simplification of organic or geometric shapes gave way to abstract sculptures, made possible in part by adopting the technique of welding metal instead of modelling. Changes in meaning ~ere inevitable: in Italy commissions called for heroes and angels; during the war years traditional themes sought to convey the sentiments of a war-torn generation. The female archetype followed, to be replaced by universal forms of human or animal torsos. Conventional meanings disappeared from the abstract structures, which are intuitive images of his new ambience. The second chapter examines· the years 1958 to 1970 during which Villa mastered metal in the creation of primarily vertical structures. However, modelling recurred at intervals, and a reciprocal influence between the two media took . place. For a time Villa's abstract works illustrate what van Peursen calls the functional nature of 20th century culture. Then Villa returns to figurative themes, creating archetypes in an expression of the mythological aspect of human consciousness, and showing similarities with African tribal art. Subsequently he arrived at images of an ontological nature, with less emphasis on the interrelationship of objects and a greater emphasis on the individual. By 1968 the linear, vertical and often frontal compositions were superseded by more massive horizontal and asymmetrical groups. The sculptures of the seventies are examined in the third chapter. Sign-like emblems of human groups were created with pipes. Bright colour became integral to Villa's formal language in non-figurative constructions. Vertical compositions were more open, and less symmetrical. Groups suggesting human figures reaffirmed Villa's main preoccupation. He seemed increasingly to express the moods of his time: massive, ebullient forms in a materially confident society; tensions of balanced line in a society under the stress of evolution. Forms opened up further, textures became rougher, colours more earthy. By the end of the decade figuration was emphasized; the symbol returned. In the cyclic flow of Edoardo Villa's development, -he balanced the formal constraints of apparently contradictory qualities: organic and geometric, open and closed, vertical and horizontal, mass and movement. At various intervals Villa embodied signs, images, and symbols, expressing the functional stage of 20th century human consciousness, which encompasses both the mythological and ontological phases of its historic development.

M.A. (Art History) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

History of Art Masters of Art by Course Work and Research Report / No abstract

This dissertation considers the creativity of Michael Zondi as one of South Africa’s so-called pioneer artists and the manner in which he used his art to contribute and create modernity. His creative skills initially locate him outside the classical designations of any one artistic discipline. From cabinet-making and building construction, which included an engagement as an architect and interior designer, ultimately Zondi became the proficient originator of a comparatively very large body of work in three-dimensional figurative wood sculpture. This study is largely confined to the latter body of work. The wood sculptor is located within the ambit of the black intelligentsia who, with their western mission education, was seeking to define and shape African modernity for themselves beyond descriptions mired in Eurocentric expression. Zondi’s early work emerged from crafting skills in woodwork, with thematic narratives that reflect regional sourcing among the amaZulu. Conceptually these represent a continuity of the creative practice of the generation before his own, particularly that of the black literary elite, who inspired him. He drew on the humanist values of the African communalism in which he was nurtured. As an ikholwa, he further drew on his Christian faith for guidance, using biblical inspiration for a few of his figurative works of art. Apart from participation in various group exhibitions from the early 1960s, unusual exhibition opportunities included two solo exhibitions, in 1965 and 1974, and an exhibition of his work in a group show in Paris, in 1977, which he attended personally. In the South African environment of black disempowerment and marginalization he secured his position outside party-political activism by using his art as his voice, especially among white patrons. As he found predominantly private patronage for his expressive human portraits, his philosophical exchange with enlightened friends, especially the medical practitioner Dr. Wolfgang Bodenstein, became the backdrop for his creative experience. Sensitive mentorship and informal tuition by white patrons provided Zondi with some knowledge of European modernist art. Drawing on it as an inspirational resource, the artist made discerning selections from this aesthetic in order to develop his own personal style. At the same time he ensured that his art remained accessible for a broad audience that included the rural people of his home environment, who were the source of his inspiration. Zondi’s thematic move beyond the confines of his Zuluness was the decisive factor which enabled the artist to engage in a very personal reconciliatory quest with white South Africans across the racial divide. In an endeavour which spanned the four decades of his active career as a sculptor, his self-representation through art was simultaneously an immersion in the human condition which became the expression of a shared humanity. By becoming the facilitator of reciprocity between people, it stood in defiance of the long-canonized fetish of race and segregation. By proffering his art as a means of communication, it thereby became an original and formative tool in shaping African modernity. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2010.

The art historical foregrounding of pioneer and contemporary art of black South Africans during the last two decades of the 20th century has emphasised two-dimensional media. Given the dearth of biographies on black artists in general, it is the purpose of this dissertation to reposition the three-dimensional oeuvre of a pioneer sculptor in the context of the artistic creativity occurring within the educational and economic constraints of a segregated South Africa. While Michael Zondi's school education and vocational training was forged predominantly within a western mission context, the emergence of his talent remained largely independent of any art training initiatives or art-making institutions. This research study places a strong emphasis on Zondi's interface with a white elitist patronage base. As a member of an educated kholwa elite, Zondi's acculturation and intellectual exchange with his patrons regarding mores, belief systems and world views, centred on reciprocity, as the artist sought to redefine himself in terms of western paradigms initially imposed by colonialism. The exchange found consistent expression in Zondi's stance of reconciliation, which reflected the cross-cultural friendships under the aegis of a shared Christianity which the artist forged into a syncretism with his own received belief systems. Zondi's espousal of western cultural paradigms which facilitated the interface resulted in the public foregrounding of the work of this black artist, at a time in South African history when this was exceptional. From the 1960s the Lutheran mission enterprise in Natal provided a platform for liberation theology, challenging the suppression of indigenous belief systems as well as state autocracy and the reality of a segregated society. Given Zondi's acute political awareness, he was prompted to take up that challenge, albeit covertly, with visual texts addressing moral issues and voicing humanitarian concerns. With figurative genre sculptures frequently alluding to the artist's rootedness in his received Zulu traditions, the thematic content of some of Zondi's work shows an indigenisation of the Christian gospel as he drew on Biblically inspired imagery, making his art function as a vehicle for the articulation of his dissent. This study traces Zondi's stylistic development from representational naturalism of his early work to an espousal of a modernist visual language embracing some experimentation with his preferred medium, South African hardwoods. Within his essentially figurative representational style, and in part as a result of the intervention of his supporters, Zondi made use of expressive surface textures and distortion. His pronounced use of faceting in the later 1960s was consolidated after a short sojourn in Paris in the mid-1970s, when, for a short time, he created more conceptual human forms in a cubist manner. This represented his most marked departure from his recognizable figurative style of representational carving. While some of Zondi's pieces in private and public collections were included in group exhibitions during the 1980s and 1990s (1), research has not yet revealed pieces postdating 1987. It is probable that ill-health forced Zondi to consider his retirement from sculpting by the early 1990s. (1) "The Neglected Tradition", 1988; "Images of Wood", 1989; "Land and Lives", 1997. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2004.

Dissertation submitted in partial compliance with the requirements for the Master's Degree in Technology: Fine Art (Sculpture), Durban Institute of Technology, 2003. / This dissertation examines the influences and interventions affecting five selected woodcarvers working in the Northern Province over a period of fifteen years. Chapter Orneis divided into three sections. The first section explores the emergence of the woodcarving tradition through the watershed exhibition of Tributaries (1985), which claimed the 'discovery' of the master woodcarvers from the region. Shortly following on from this was the Neglected TradihmD exhibition (1988) whose role defined a turning point in the exhibiting and documentation of black artists within a changing art historical perspective. / M

This study is a consideration of the notion of the artist as a visionary. This perception of the artist is explored in relation to the work and ideas of three twentieth century artists; the American painter Jackson Pollock (1912-1952), the German artist Joseph Beuys (1921-1983) and the South African artist Jackson Hlungwani (1918 -). The work and ideas of these artists is discussed primarily in terms of the similarities and differences between their art and ideas and those encountered in traditional shamanism and the visionary aspects of Romantic and Gothic art and culture as represented by the work and ideas of eighteenth century English poet and painter William Blake (1757-1827). Each of the twentieth century artists who are considered represents a different strain of the idea of the artist as a visionary. Pollock is discussed in terms of his implicit identification with the artist-shaman. This identification is revealed by the influence Jung's writings and Native American (Indian) art and culture had on his work. Beuys is considered in relation to his explicit adoption of a shaman-like persona. Hlungwani is a practising healer in a traditional community whose art explores an apocalyptic vision of redemption. The comparisons between the artists under investigation and the visionary aspects of traditional shamanism and Gothic and Romantic culture entail an analysis of pictorial elements, subject matter and content in the work of these artists. The intention was to explore those properties in the work and ideas of these artists which correspond to the notion of the artist as a visionary. / Thesis (M.A.F.A.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 1996.