William Kentridge

Artist

• Born: April 28, 1955
• Place of Birth: Johannesburg, South Africa

Education: University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg Art Foundation, L'École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq

Significance: William Kentridge is a South African mixed-media artist. Life during and after South African apartheid has served as an inspiration for his artwork. He works with several mediums, including charcoal drawings that he turns into animated films, puppet theater productions, and operas.

Background

William Kentridge was born on April 28, 1955, in Johannesburg, South Africa. He and his three siblings were born into a white, wealthy family during the time when the country was under apartheid, a system of laws designed to keep a white minority in power while keeping the black majority from becoming educated and holding governmental positions. Kentridge's parents did not support apartheid. His father, Sydney Kentridge, was a lawyer who represented several prominent anti-apartheid activists, including future South African president Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu. His mother, Felicia Kentridge, supported the anti-apartheid movement and gave legal advice to activists who needed it.

Kentridge was interested in art from a young age. He enjoyed drawing with charcoal and took art lessons. He attended an all-white boys' school with children whose families supported the ruling United Party, unlike his family. As he grew up, Kentridge did not support apartheid. His parents expected him to study law as they had, but he decided instead to focus on an art career. Kentridge continued to take art classes as a teenager, training under artist Bill Ainslie.

After his year of compulsory military service, he began college at the University of the Witwatersrand in 1973. He majored in politics and African studies and was involved in the school's theater productions, which focused mostly on politics. He and several students formed the Junction Avenue Theatre Company in 1975. Kentridge also was involved in the anti-apartheid movement and attended protests and marches.

After he graduated in 1976, Kentridge attended the Johannesburg Art Foundation, which was run by Ainslie. At this time, he focused on oil painting but was not having much luck with it as a medium of choice. He eventually switched to prints and drawings. In 1981, he studied theater and mime in Paris, France, at the L'École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq. He later said that he learned more about art and acting in Paris than he had learned anywhere else in the world.

Life's Work

In the 1980s, Kentridge returned to South Africa, where he used his native country as inspiration for much of his art. At first, he worked making props and sets for television and film. He also sold his drawings on the side. Kentridge decided to become a full-time artist in the mid-1980s. He began creating animated films from his charcoal drawings. He used a style he called "poor man's animation" in which he used one drawing that he continued to apply marks to, taking photographs of every change.

In addition, he worked with the Handspring Puppet Company in Cape Town and Johannesburg. One of the projects with the company included Faustus in Africa (1995), an adaptation of the legend, for which Kentridge made animated film projections that were used onstage with wooden puppets. He continued to work with the company in the years that followed.

In 1994, apartheid ended in South Africa, and the nation worked to rebuild itself. Mandela was elected president, which brought the African National Congress Party to power. Kentridge decided to stay in South Africa even though his siblings and parents moved to other countries. He knew the country would face much uncertainty as power changed hands. He expressed love for his home country and was happy to see the end of apartheid. A few of his animated films during this time included political themes about the post-apartheid period. Both History of the Main Complaint and Ubu Tells the Truth were inspired by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings.

Kentridge eventually received recognition for his work outside of South Africa. In 1997, his animated films Felix in Exile and History of the Main Complaint were included in the Documenta exhibition in Kassel, Germany. The Marian Goodman Gallery in New York City began to show some of his work. Art dealers in London also took notice and approached Kentridge. With the Handspring Puppet Company, Kentridge designed and directed The Return of Ulysses. Bernard Foccroulle, a director in Brussels, Belgium, saw the production and asked Kentridge to design a version for opera. Kentridge, who had been a big fan of opera since he was younger, happily accepted the request.

Throughout the years, Kentridge continued to work on a variety of projects. From the 2000s on, he concentrated mostly on animated films and operas. In 2010, he debuted a production of Dmitri Shostakovich's opera The Nose at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. He released his piece The Refusal of Time, a series of five videos that discuss time and space, in 2012. His version of the opera Lulu debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in 2015, and Wozzeck followed in 2017. In 2023, Kentridge was granted the Laurence Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Opera.

Impact

Life during and after apartheid in South Africa has been an inspiration for many of Kentridge's works. He has produced numerous art pieces throughout his career, using a variety of mediums, but his signature art form is turning series of charcoal drawings into animated films. Kentridge has received much acclaim for his mixed-media pieces, which have been shown in museums throughout the world. His operas also have had international appeal.

Personal Life

Kentridge is married to Anne Stanwix, a physician. The two met when she visited Kentridge's high school, but they did not begin dating until college. They have three children: daughters Alice and Isabel and son Samuel.

Bibliography

Koerner, Margaret K. "Death, Time, Soup: A Conversation with William Kentridge and Peter Galison." New York Review of Books, 30 June 2012, www.nybooks.com/daily/2012/06/30/kentridge-galison-refusal-of-time. Accessed 8 Oct. 2024.

Tomkins, Calvin. "Lines of Resistance." New Yorker, 18 Jan. 2010, www.newyorker.com/magazine/2010/01/18/lines-of-resistance. Accessed 8 Oct. 2024.

Tone, Lilian. "William Kentridge: Stereoscope." Artarchives.net, artarchives.net/artarchives/liliantone/tonekentridge.html. Accessed 8 Oct. 2024.

"William Kentridge." Artsy, www.artsy.net/artist/william-kentridge. Accessed 8 Oct. 2024.

"William Kentridge." Art21, art21.org/artist/william-kentridge. Accessed 8 Oct. 2024.

"William Kentridge (South African, Born 1955)." Artnet, www.artnet.com/artists/william-kentridge. Accessed 8 Oct. 2024.

Wood, Alex. "Olivier Awards 2023 - Winners Are Announced." WhatsOnStage, 2 Apr. 2023, www.whatsonstage.com/london-theatre/news/olivier-awards-2023-winners-are-announced-nbsp‗58667.html/. Accessed 8 Oct. 2024.

Woolfe, Zachary. "Review: William Kentridge's Triumphant 'Wozzeck' Will Come to the Met Opera." New York Times, 9 Aug. 2017, www.nytimes.com/2017/08/09/arts/music/review-william-kentridge-wozzeck-salzburg-met-opera.html?mcubz=1. Accessed 8 Oct. 2024..

Wroe, Nicholas. "Out of South Africa: How Politics Animated the Art of William Kentridge." Guardian, 20 Sept. 2017, www.theguardian.com/books/2016/sep/10/out-of-south-africa-how-politics-animated-the-art-of-william-kentridge. Accessed 8 Oct. 2024.