Analysing Cultural Identity In Blue Retro Car, By Henk Serfontein

Analysing cultural identity within South Africa by accepting difference within similarity, and commenting on similarities between Henk Serfontein's artwork – “Blue Retro Car ”, and my own work.

Analysing cultural identity within South Africa by accepting difference within similarity

I have done my research essay on “Blue Retro Car” by Henk Serfontein. The reason I selected to analyse this work is, because I have found similarities in both concept and execution to my own work. I also relate to the artist because he places himself in the same “South African” context that I work in. This context is theoretically based on my cultural past and how it determents my future. Serfontein also comes from the same cultural background –Afrikaans – than me, his works portrays this cultural link as do mine. Both Henk Serfontein and myself make use of iconography in different aspects to portray our message and create a substantial backing for our work. His symmetrical portrayal of similar iconography/images has inspired me tremendously and I have adopted concepts from him in creating my artwork.

My artwork “Accepting differences within similarity” is based upon the idea of exploring the

This work is also often referred to as “Cars” in this context its ironic as the one car becomes a part of many. The car (‘s) is positioned on a piece of burned/scratched wood. The pristine condition of the vintage car juxtaposes the scared wood creating tension between the order the car is placed in and the background. Through this artwork Serfontein depicts his childhood/ roots by use of the car, the journey that he takes is “preserved” against the messy background commenting on apartheid, his childhood and the messy journey of his life. The undivided factor is death in the