1. CHAPTER 3: SOCIO POLITICAL ART – INCLUDING RESISTANCE ART OF THE 70’S & 80’S

2. Leon Golub. Art is not limited to beauty. Nor is it necessarily moral. Artists like the late Leon Golub (Interrogation II, above) rejected pleasing beauty, making aggressive and repulsive images as a part of a moral act. He condemned the obscenity of death and torture for power and profit.

3. Leon Golub. Interrogation II. 1981. Acrylic on Linen. There is a strange elegance to the figures of the oppressors, which contrasts with the acts that they are carrying out. The man who is has raised his hand to the victim is casually smoking, suggesting indifference. The body of the hooded victim has a bruised quality to as do those of the perpetrators, implying that they too are ‘bruised’/and damaged by what they do. The deep red/orange of the background is reminiscent of blood and violence and contrasts with the cool blues of the oppressors clothing.

4. Leon Golub. The Interrogation III. 1981. Acrylic on linen. The subject matter consists of two men who are holding a woman captive and interrogating her. The man in the blue leans in towards the woman with his hand firmly pressing her head down trying to subdue her. The man on the right appears to be holding a rope which is wrapped around her wrists which prevents her from being able to protect herself. The nudity of the woman intensifies her vulnerability. Her skin appears to be a mottled mixture of flesh colour and blue/grey bruising.

5. South African Artists Paul Stopforth. Kevin Brand Jane Alexander.

6. Paul Stopforth. The Interrogators. 1979. Triptych. Graphite and floor wax. The Interrogators, features three of the 9 policemen involved in the inquest around Steve Biko's death. The ghostlike treatment of the centrally placed faces which dominate the artwork is unsettling, they seem to loom out of a mist and confront the viewer The bottom face is especially sinister as he has a small Hitler-like moustache and sunglasses which hide his eyes the image of a chair brings all the figures together – they are all guilty of the same crimes. The chair which an inanimate object becomes a symbol of latent terror. A common means of torture was to strap victim to a chair.

7. Paul Stopforth. Elegy for Steve Biko. 1981. Mixed media The viewer is immediately struck by the cold grey body lying in a sea of blood red. It is laid out on what looks like a coroners tray. The body of the hero lies mute, he is powerless to resist the viewers gaze. A man that was an activist is now rendered helpless in death as he laid out like a cadaver on a butchers slab. Biko’s nakedness makes him appear vulnerable, his face is turned away from the viewer at am awkward angle

8. Kevin Brand. 19 Boys Running. 1988. Sculpture installation. Average Height 160 cm This installation work is based on an event that took place in march 1985. At a time when large funerals had been banned. Police opened fire on a crowd at a funeral There is a sense of irony between the title and the work – the figures are trapped in coffin-like structures and are not able to run. Their anguished faces are distorted in a strongly expressionistic manner. The loose brush marks add to the bruised and battered feeling of the figures. Red which is typically association with anger and bloodshed is interspersed throughout the installation. The viewer is able to walk amongst these grotesque figures and gain some insight into the horror of the event. The figures are numbered - there are no names to give them an identity which could personalise them. To the authorities they were just a number.

9. Jane Alexander. Butcher Boys. 1985.

10. Integration programme. Man with wrapped feet. 1994. Oil paint, Crushed glass. Wood.

11. Man with wrapped feet – detail.