oil on board 355 x 570 mm
1989
Collection of the artist

Description Background:

1989 marked the extremely brutal way in which citizens of our country were put to death: the ‘necklace’ method. A tire was place around the victim’s neck and it was filled with petrol and then set a-light with a match. The crowd watched while the victim suffered an agonizing death.

During this period, Winnie Mandela, the wife of the then imprisoned Nelson Mandela, captured headlines. Media-hype, which was caused not only by seeing her name emblazoned across posters, front pages and Television as well as defiant photographs of her showing arm stretched out, with clenched fist, but also any reference to a box of matches or even a match or seeing a tyre, would send a chill of fear and despair down one’s spine.
I have always been fascinated by paradoxes. Consequently, the mesmerizing and enigmatic beauty of this woman, tainted by everything that we regard as evil, (as portrayed by the press), implanted itself in my subconscious and lay there dormant.
The watering occurred, when I received an invitation to participate in a group exhibition in Johannesburg, titled: ‘QUEENS’. All sorts of ‘queens’ could qualify: gay, royal, bee, etc.

I instinctively ‘knew’ I wanted the fascinating Winnie Mandela to be my ‘queen’.
The intricate process of imagineering the whole concept of the ‘yet to be’ painting, was now set in motion.

The lady in question certainly had a regal way about her but she certainly was an atypical queen. I started thinking about culture and the differences and contrasts between African and Western culture. Then it struck me! I would anoint her as my ‘Culture Queen’!

Although I could not imagine her with a conventional crown on top of her head, the images and symbols necessary for the ‘language’ of the painting, gradually presented them selves to me.
I am extremely particular about fostering ambiguity in my work and I welcome and encourage the opinions of spectators as it re-invents the painting for me. It is important to be slightly ‘tongue-in-cheek’ when analyzing this painting. It is amazing how richly the work has developed over the last few years, especially since active participation was sought from the viewer.

The symbols:

To represent African culture, I employed the following symbols: Animal print, horns, African landscape, elephant, bead work and an African woman with traditional headdress.
To represent Western culture, I felt that a packet of cigarettes was absolutely typical and therefore, more than sufficient.

The painting:

The portrait of ‘Culture Queen’, occupies the middle third of the surface of the painting. Her eyes are slightly averted to the ‘left’. Her face has a strange ‘metallic’ look to it, symbolizing her inner strength and the way she has had to ‘steel’ herself against the criticism of society. Her enigmatic smile evokes memories of Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa.
A pair of horns which nearly encircle her head, rest on her shoulders and this is her ‘crown’, which has slipped over her head, forever ‘trapping’ her in her own glory.
Our history books were filled with stories of the Impi’s and the horn formation they used as their strategy for attacking. Some viewers read sexuality into the symbol of the horn but alternatively it’s quite possible to view it as a crude form of ‘halo’ that surrounds her face.
Elephants are powerful symbols of Africa but the ‘white’ elephant around her neck could imply that she cannot really be taken seriously. It was only after the painting had been completed that I read somewhere that her popular name was ‘Ndlovu’, the She-elephant!
In the background, the landscape could be the setting for either a ‘rising’ sun or a ‘setting’ sun. The warm, rich colors of Africa are evident, and the ‘blazing’ painting literally ‘glows’ from within.
A stepped geometric frame, tiger skin-patterned, surrounds the portrait. The bottom part reminds one of the collar that a ‘court jester’ would wear. The top part is rather ‘monumental….’
A portion of ‘barbed-wire’ connects the two top points of the stepped frame. I recall that the subjects in propaganda photographs were always placed behind ‘barbed wire’. I also have childhood memories of seeing the ‘washing’ in rural areas, draped onto barbed wire.
As a thinking artist, I find it necessary to re-evaluate all preconceived ideas. By ‘looking at’ my painting, the viewer agrees to accompany me on this journey. These images are capable of generating severe discomfort and downright antagonism in the viewer. The subject has been a constant victim of persecution and humiliation and the similarity in shape between barbed wire and thorns as well as the pain it can inflict on the body, can become an intolerable ‘connection’ for the most of us. In this instance, the barbed wire is elevated above the head and spans the area left open where the two points of the horns don’t succeed in completing the circle of the crown.
The only clue as to whom the portrait represents is the half-obscured ‘WIN’ on the packet of cigarettes. A cigarette ‘butt’ is poised on the top corner of the packet and is neatly strung on the ‘necklace’ around her neck. The Afrikaans word for ‘butt’ is Stompie. This is the name of the young soccer player who disappeared and with whom the ‘subject’ had been linked. Is the ‘elephant’ trampling the ‘stompie’ or is it a sign that smoking should be banned?
The viewer is invited to participate in the endless permutations of playing visual, mind and word games, the conclusion remaining as mysterious as the subject, who, AS mysteriously, became Deputy Minister of Arts and CULTURE in 1995.

Provenance
2013 ‘FIGHT/FLIGHT OF THE IMAGINATION’ solo Galleries Petites, Aleta Michaletos Galleries Pretoria South Africa
2012 ‘FIGHT/FLIGHT OF THE IMAGINATION’ solo Galleries Petites, Aleta Michaletos Galleries Pretoria South Africa
2003 August 14 ’ WOMEN ETC’ Women’s Day Celebrations, Art Gallery, Voortrekker Monument Heritage site Pretoria South Africa (curated: Arina Oosthuizen)
2003 ‘DA VINCI EXHIBITION’ (Friends of the Pretoria Art Museum) Association of Arts Pretoria South Africa 1999
1995 ‘GROUP EXHIBITION’, VERWOERDBURG (CENTURION) Art Gallery, Pretoria, South Africa
1994 ‘OFFICIAL OPENING OF THE ABSA GALLERY’, Johannesburg, South Africa
1993 October 9 – 5 November ‘ARTISTS FROM THE GREATER PRETORIA REGION’ -UNISA Art Gallery, Pretoria, South Africa (Eric Lubisi) Curator: Frieda Hattingh
1993 August 20 ‘THE MAGIC OF AMBER’ Aleta Michaletos Gallery Pretoria South Africa
1992 ‘RETROSPECTIVE’ Karl Hover Museum, Schloss Ettlingen Germany
1991 ‘RETROSPECTIVE’ Karl Hover Museum, Schloss Ettlingen Germany
1991 ‘RETROSPECTIVE’, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
1989 30 April- 10 May ‘WOMAN’, SA Association of Arts, Pretoria South Africa
1989 1st December ‘WILD, WEIRD & WONDERFUL’ Aleta Michaletos Gallery Dr Pieter Haasbroek
1989 26 August/Sept ‘QUEENS’ Hagenhof, Johannesburg, South Africa, Her Majesty Queen Susan of the Albanians (The South African Red Cross Society)late Mixael de Kock
1989 ALETA MICHALETOS GALLERIES