Inspired by the silkscreen images Andy Warhol made of popular icons like Marilyn Monroe and Mick Jagger, South African artist Beezy Bailey pays tribute to the country’s largest living icon, Nelson Mandela, in his Icon Iconoclast exhibition.
Taking place at the Everard Read Gallery in Johannesburg from 5 May to 16 June 2011, Icon Iconoclast comprises a series of paintings that use photographs in silkscreen format. Photographs are printed onto a canvas which Bailey has painted landscape or abstract images on. The photographs used are those taken by Bob Gosani before Madiba’s imprisonment and those by Benny Gool, taken after his release.
In addition to celebrating the legacy of Madiba, the exhibition also recognises the liberation of South Africa and the dream of the free South African.
