I was recently commissioned by the Art Bank of South Africa to paint a piece for submission to their Contemporary Visual Art Collection, as part of a programme hosted by the National Museum in Bloemfontein.
The piece I decided to paint is titled “Bread & Circuses” and speaks to our movement, as a country, through time. The title is a reference to superficial appeasement, coined by Juvenal, a Roman poet active in the late first and early second century CE. Similarly to the Romans of the time, South Africa is currently faced with a number of challenges, many of which are ignored as a result of superficial appeasement on a political, and even personal level. The piece considers important themes in our history, present and potentially our future, weighing the importance of things that may change our course from collapse (like the Romans), to a better future.
There are many subtle cultural and political references in this piece, but the main message is the value of intentionally recognising and nurturing small hopes, with the intent of moving towards a better future. The safety of past structures will erode, the pain of past sacrifices will fade and present distractions will only work for a time, but hope will endure and grow through it all.
