Hero worship and objectivity don’t exactly have a benevolent relationship and the temptation here to just say “Conrad Botes! Conrad Botes! Conrad Botes!” is huge. For the sake of impartiality however, let’s say that the works arguably aren’t as effective as his Bitterkomix drawings and paintings. Maybe that’s because nobody’s unwittingly having sex with their elderly prostitute mother or being tossed into a flaming cess pit. Not to say that the works aren’t provocative, The Passion of the White Rat is more than enough to irk irritable religious types, likewise the ape detail in Tree of Knowledge. Continuing the fickle grumblings, many felt that the sculptures reeked of Claudette Schreuders (who, in a move of interesting curatorship is concurrently on exhibition); in fact it was a common misconception that they were collaborations. Apparently some of the works (White Rat for instance) have been on display before. The drinks at the opening weren’t free. The catalogue hasn’t been printed yet. To hell with it. Conrad Botes! Conrad Botes! Conrad Botes! Where would the South African contemporary art scene be without Afrikaner counter-culture?

Labels: review