William Kentridge: Five Themes.

William Kentridge: Five Themes. William Kentridge, edited by Mark Rosenthal. Yale University Press / San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, 2009. 264pp., numerous illustrations, 10.3x9.9". Images from Pentagram.

Contemporary South African artist William Kentridge's work encompasses drawings, film, prints, books, installations, performance and sculptures, and in his work he creates 'layered, complex narratives that connect the personal and the political' giving a view of the daily lives of South Africans - both during the apartheid regime and after its collapse.


The catalogue 'William Kentridge: Five Themes' was produced in close collaboration with the artist to accompany an exhibition at San Francisco Museum of Modern Art spanning three decades of Kentridge's work (this exhibition is currently showing at the Museum of Modern Art in New York).

'William Kentridge: Five Themes' explores the five primary themes that have occupied Kentridge's work:

Soho and Felix: "works featuring Kentridge's best-known characters, the businessman Soho Eckstein and his alter ego, the anxiety-ridden Felix Teitlebaum".

Ubu and the Procession: "inspired by Ubu Roi, these projects reflect the excitement, conflict, and rapid social changes in post-apartheid South Africa".

Artist in the Studio: "an examination of Kentridge's practice and his emergence as an installation artist".

The Magic Flute: "work related to the artist's set designs for Mozart's opera".

The Nose: "Kentridge's most recent production, including work inspired by his staging of the Shostakovich opera for New York's Metropolitan Opera in spring 2010".


A DVD accompanies 'William Kentridge: Five Themes'. Kentridge created this DVD especially for the book and it includes pieces from film projects (both from previous and newly completed work) as well as 'commentary that sheds further light on the artist's work'.


You can view more images from inside the book at Pentagram (click on links above for the exhibition pages).