Magister Artium - MA / This study focuses on how we can interpret political meanings embedded in Gladys
Mgudlandlu’s work by concentrating on her landscapes, murals, and portraits during
the period of the 1960s – 1980s. The core of my thesis is to question whether the
artwork of Mgudlandlu was political. The thesis argues that Mgundlandlu’s talents
and interventions have been overlooked and undermined. Engaging with a deep
analysis of the context in which Mgudlandlu lived and worked, a visual analysis of
her paintings and a discussion on the meaning of her life and work from various
vantage points across time substantiates the above argument.
The study engages with three fundamental approaches. Firstly it approaches
Mgudlandlu’s work through how it is articulated and historicized as part of the
struggle against apartheid in South Africa before 1994. Here I disrupt the idea that her
work was out of touch with reality and that her work was of a naivety that isolated
herself from the struggles of black people. I further argue that her work transcends the
norms and expectations of black artists during this period. Her work in many ways
challenges stereotypes and broke social conventions by painting landscape: something
which was mostly associated with older white male artists. Thus I advocate for a
reconsideration of her work by revisiting her landscape painting which carries most of
the weight of my argument regarding Mgudlandlu’s political stand.
My second approach is to explore the production and process of her work by
concentrating on cultural workshops and their role in South African art during the
apartheid period. Mgudlandlu’s creation and production process was very different
from her counterparts which is explored through a careful analysis of Mgudlandlu’s
paintings.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:uwc/oai:etd.uwc.ac.za:11394/6653 |
| Date | January 2019 |
| Creators | Hlekiso, Bongiwe |
| Contributors | Hayes, Patricia |
| Publisher | University of the Western Cape |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | University of the Western Cape |
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