The Jewish Museum

Acclaimed for the dramatic quality of his work, South African artist William Kentridge transforms the traditional medium of drawing by filming drawn, erased and redrawn images thereby creating a visual narrative. Presented as film, the hand of the draftsman is seen in the charcoal lines, smudges, and silhouettes--leaving traces of time across the moving images.

The four films in this exhibition, part of the Drawings for Projection series, depict the fictional Jewish characters Soho Eckstein and Felix Teitelbaum, who begin as alteregos of each other. While the latter is initially part self-portrait, the artist complicates this, as protagonist and antagonist exchange attributes as the sequence progresses. The characters metaphorically play out the social, political, and moral legacy of apartheid as they go about their lives. Kentridge's filmed narratives explore political themes in recent South African history, while addressing personal and universal concerns; the nature of memory, greed, love, and jealousy.