Kagiso Pat Mautloa – Untitled, 1995

Kagiso Pat Mautloa (1952-)

Untitled (1995)

Wool / 2000 x 4500 mm

CCAC #0175

This tapestry demonstrates Mautloa's characteristic combination of figuration and abstraction. Mautloa associates the Court with the idea of togetherness, with people gathering in a space, and this is what inspired him when he was commissioned to make the work for the Court. He chose to represent a series of faces that came into his imagination as a kind of montage. The jostling faces suggest the great variety of people in South Africa, the many differences that we might think of as a "nation". The background of the image is dense - almost black - and the faces - in bright yellows, blue and reds - stand out as points of light on a dark ground.

Photograph by: Ben Law-Viljoen