Denaturalized nature - strategies of representation in selected works of Penelope Siopis and William Kentridge.

[摘要] American critic Hal Foster argues that conceptions of 'the natural' are not universal,they are historically and discursively produced, There is no unmediated presence of'the natural' in painting. He proposes 'denaturalization' as a form of criticalpostmodemist aesthetic which questions universalist tendencies in contemporarycultural production This research examines selected theories and visual.representations of 'the natural' in order to explore different ways in which Foster'snotion of denaturalization may be productive in assessing the complexity of criticalvisual art practice in South Africa.My approach to the topic is largely fragmentary in order to reflect on and engagewith the diverse terms of 'the natural' as manifest in visual art practice. To this endI discuss selected works of contemporary South African artists William Kentridge andPenelope'Siopis, While Foster's notion of denaturalization is productive in trying toengage withcritical issues' of art practice it is difficulr, if not impossible to determineif cenaln works conform with either his notion of a postmodernism of resistance orpostmodernism of reaction. I will also explore the notion of denaturalization withreference to my practical work.

[发布机构] University of the Witwatersrand