William Kentridge's father, Sir Sydney Kentridge played a leading role in a number of the most significant political trials in the apartheid era, including the Treason Trial of Nelson Mandela and the 1978 inquest into the death of Steve Biko. Kentridge's wife, Felicia Kentridge, was also a leading anti-apartheid lawyer. In addition to what promises to be an enlightening conversation between Siebrits and Kentridge, this event will also see the launch of the deluxe edition of the Domestic Scenes book published by Siebrits and Kentridge.
Domestic Scenes is a series of 54 etchings and aquatints, created by Kentridge in 1980 when he was 25 years old. This book, compiled by Warren Siebrits, is the precursor to a larger ongoing project, namely a catalogue raisonne´ of Kentridge’s prints and posters. The Domestic Scenes etching series presents a range of human interactions in domestic environments and revealing influences from Matisse to Francis Bacon, among others.
This book offers fascinating new commentary from Kentridge on this series of etchings, as he also shares insight on his working methods as well as personal memories of the prints’ subjects and creation. Framed by detailed research by Warren Siebrits, Domestic Scenes provides some of the earliest evidence of the artist “stalking the drawing”: returning to the etching plate time and again to make additions and alterations. The book features 16 cover variations, each with a different tipped-in image from the series.
