Brett Murray


Brett Murray is a South African artist mostly known for his steel and mixed media wall sculptures. He was born in Pretoria, South Africa. Murray has a master's degree in fine art from the Michaelis School of Fine Art, 1989. Referred to by critic Brenda Atkinson as "the dark prince of South African pop ", Murray is one of the country's most popular artists, often using easily recognisable media images with the addition of a subversive and bitterly funny twist. Murray's work addresses the wars of the cultures, the clash between Afrocentrism and Eurocentrism, the old and the new South Africas. "With my work I hope to critically entertain. Through satirical and tragic reflections on South Africa, I hope to shift people's perspectives and change people's minds, indulgent, arrogant and pretentious as this might sound," he says. More recently, his work has explored his own personal experiences and identity. Murray was also the founder of the sculpture department at Stellenbosch University.

Defamation suit

In 2012, Murray exhibited a painting in a Johannesburg gallery of former president Jacob Zuma with his genitals exposed, titled The Spear. The painting was part of a show of political work entitled "Hail to the Thief II". On 18 May, the African National Congress announced its intention to sue him for defamation for the painting and to force the gallery to remove it from exhibition, its website, and printed materials. Many public figures expressed outrage at the painting, and one church even called for Murray to be "stoned to death".
On Tuesday 22 May 2012, at 11am two men walked into the Goodman Gallery in Johannesburg with pots of paint and defaced The Spear. They were caught on camera by a news team and were apprehended immediately by gallery security.
During the defamation debate, comparisons were drawn between Murray's The Spear and fellow South African Ayanda Mabulu's work from 2010, Ngcono ihlwempu kunesibhanxo sesityebi. The painting depicts Jacob Zuma in similar fashion alongside Desmond Tutu, Nelson Mandela and other figures from the anti-Apartheid struggle - several sources questioned the potential racial and political motivations in Zuma's attack on Murray, a white artist.

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