Celebrated for a body of work that confronts injustice, William Kentridge addresses South Africa’s brutal apartheid past and ongoing transformation through metaphoric imagery.
Working in a variety of media, Kentridge makes socially engaging art, while exploring the absurd. His films are constructed by continually drawing, erasing, and drawing again on the same piece of paper; in a recent production of Shostokovich’s opera The Nose for The Metropolitan Opera, Kentridge incorporated many of these animated shorts to potently convey the story of a runaway nose and the owner’s attempt to find it.
View William Kentridge’s gallery page, read an interview with the artist, watch a PBS documentary about his life and work, catch his traveling survey show in Vienna, and buy the catalogue.
Click through below for a gallery of images and the trailer from the PBS documentary, which airs on October 21. To enter to win one of two DVDs of William Kentridge: Anything Is Possible, leave a comment below with the name of your favorite Kentridge piece.
William Kentridge. Drawing for the film Stereoscope, 1998–99. Charcoal and pastel on paper; 31 7/16 x 48 3/8 in. Copyright and courtesy of William Kentridge.
William Kentridge. Drawing for the film Stereoscope, 1998–99. Charcoal and pastel on paper; 31 7/16 x 48 3/8 in. Copyright and courtesy of William Kentridge.
William Kentridge. Drawing for the film History of the Main Complaint, 1996. Charcoal and pastel on paper; 31 1/2 x 47 1/4 in. Copyright and courtesy of William Kentridge.
William Kentridge. Drawing for What Will Come (has already come) (Two Heads), 2007, installation view from Seeing Double, Marian Goodman Gallery, New York, 2008. Charcoal on paper, cold rolled steel table and mirrored steel cylinder; paper diameter: 47 1/4 in., cylinder higher: 11 1/2 in., diameter: 6 1/2 in. Courtesy of Marian Goodman Gallery, New York.
William Kentridge. Double Canna, 2004, installation view from Seeing Double, Marian Goodman Gallery, New York, 2008. Two drawings with charcoal and colored pencil on paper, mirrors, and tripod; 63 x 48 in. each, overall dimensions variable. Copyright and courtesy of William Kentridge.
William Kentridge. Double Vision, 2007. Set of 8 stereoscopic cards, colophon wood box and stereoscope; dimensions variable, each card 7 x 3 1/2 in. Edition of 25. Copyright and courtesy of William Kentridge.
William Kentridge in his studio, Johannesburg, South Africa, 2008. William Kentridge: Anything Is Possible, production still, 2010. © Art21, Inc. 2010.
William Kentridge creating video animation for I am not me, the horse is not mine (2008) in his studio, Johannesburg, South Africa, 2008. William Kentridge: Anything Is Possible, production still, 2010. © Art21, Inc. 2010.
William Kentridge creating video animation for I am not me, the horse is not mine (2008) in his studio, Johannesburg, South Africa, 2008. William Kentridge: Anything Is Possible, production still, 2010. © Art21, Inc. 2010.
William Kentridge performing I am not me, the horse is not mine (2008) as part of Performa 09, New York, 2009. Production stills from the film William Kentridge: Anything Is Possible. © Art21, Inc. 2010.
Production still from the film William Kentridge: Anything Is Possible. © Art21, Inc. and The Metropolitan Opera, 2010.
Production still from the film William Kentridge: Anything Is Possible. © Art21, Inc. and The Metropolitan Opera, 2010.
Trailer #1 | “William Kentridge: Anything Is Possible” (2010) | Art21 from Art21 on Vimeo.