Wednesday 30 May 2012

Zuma Spear Update

Last week I reported on the furore over Brett Murray's The Spear (2012), a saucy lampoon of South African President Jacob Zuma with his flies undone (CLICK). Shown here is the state of it after it was vandalised by ANC supporters. The Goodman Gallery in Johannesburg has now agreed with the ANC that it won't display the painting again - How could it in this condition? - and it will remove the unsullied digital image from its website (CLICK). So much for the South African constitution, which guarantees freedom of artistic expression. Not when a bigwig of the ANC is exposed for what he is: a man rich enough to support four wives and 22 children (at least) while most of his countrymen live in poverty with their skinny children. The thrust of Murray's exhibition is not about sex, but about corruption in the new South African regime. Point made, I suspect.

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home