Brett Murray (born 1961) is a South African

artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse refers to a practitioner in the visual arts only. However, t ...

mostly known for his steel and

mixed media In visual art, mixed media describes artwork in which more than one medium or material has been employed. Assemblages, collages, and sculpture are three common examples of art using different media. Materials used to create mixed media art inc ...

wall

sculptures Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

. He was born in

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends eastward into the foot ...

, South Africa. Murray has a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in fine art from the

Michaelis School of Fine Art The Michaelis School of Fine Art was founded in 1925, and is the Fine Arts department of the University of Cape Town. The school's current director is Associate Professor Kurt Campbell. There are three research institutions associated with the sch ...

, 1989. Referred to by critic Brenda Atkinson as "the dark prince of South African pop (art)", 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

culture Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these grou ...

s, the clash between

Afrocentrism Afrocentrism is an approach to the study of world history that focuses on the history of people of recent African descent. It is in some respects a response to Eurocentric attitudes about African people and their historical contributions. I ...

and

Eurocentrism Eurocentrism (also Eurocentricity or Western-centrism) is a worldview that is centered on Western civilization or a biased view that favors it over non-Western civilizations. The exact scope of Eurocentrism varies from the entire Western worl ...

, 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 Stellenbosch University ( af, Universiteit Stellenbosch) is a public research university situated in Stellenbosch, a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Stellenbosch is the oldest university in South Africa and the oldest extant ...

Defamation suit

In 2012, Murray exhibited a painting in a

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a Megacity#List of megacities, megacity, and is List of urban areas by p ...

gallery of then-president

Jacob Zuma Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma (; born 12 April 1942) is a South African politician who served as the fourth president of South Africa from 2009 to 2018. He is also referred to by his initials JZ and clan name Msholozi, and was a former anti-apart ...

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 The African National Congress (ANC) is a social-democratic political party in South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when the first post-apartheid election install ...

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

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 Ayanda Mabulu (born in 1981) is a South African artist mostly known for his paintings. Painting Mabulu's work of 2010, ''Ngcono ihlwempu kunesibhanxa sesityebi'' (Xhosa translation: Better poor than a rich puppet), depicted various internationa ...

's work from 2010, ''Ngcono ihlwempu kunesibhanxo sesityebi''. The painting depicts Jacob Zuma in similar fashion alongside

Desmond Tutu Desmond Mpilo Tutu (7 October 193126 December 2021) was a South African Anglican bishop and theologian, known for his work as an anti-apartheid and human rights activist. He was Bishop of Johannesburg from 1985 to 1986 and then Archbish ...

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (; ; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African anti-apartheid activist who served as the first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. He was the country's first black head of state and the ...

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.zuma portrait court case reopens South Africa's wounds from Apartheid er

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Collections

2018Wikimania pedestrian zone Africa by Brett Murray

*Iziko, South African National Gallery, Cape Town, SA *Johannesburg Art Gallery, SA *Durban Art Gallery, SA *Tatham Art Gallery, Pietermaritzburg, SA *University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, SA *University of Cape Town, SA *University of South Africa, Pretoria, SA *University of Bloemfontein, SA *Sandton Municipality, Johannesburg, SA *DirectAxis Collection, Cape Town, SA *BHP Billiton Collection, Johannesburg, SA *MTN Collection, Johannesburg, SA *Sasol Collection, Johannesburg, SA *South African Breweries, Johannesburg, SA *South African Broadcasting Corporation, Johannesburg, SA *The South African Reserve Bank, Johannesburg, SA *Vodacom Collection, Cape Town, SA *Nando’s Art Collection, Johannesburg, SA *Sindika Dokolo African Collection of Contemporary Art, Luanda, Angola *Red Bull, Salzburg, Austria *Collection of Mikki and Stanley Weithorn, USA

Selected exhibitions

*2010 Spier Contemporary, Stellenbosch, SA *2009 Crocodile Tears, Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg, SA *2008 Crocodile Tears, Goodman Gallery Cape, Cape Town, SA *2006 Sleep Sleep, The Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg, SA and João Ferreira Gallery, Cape Town, SA *2003 Us and Them, Axis Gallery, New York, USA *2002 Standard Bank Young Artist of the Year Award exhibition, White Like Me, travelling to: National Arts Festival, Grahamstown, SA *King George VI Art Gallery, Port Elizabeth, SA *Johannes Stegman Art Gallery, Bloemfontein, SA *2001 Hero, Bell-Roberts Contemporary, Cape Town, SA *2000 I Love Africa, Bell-Roberts Contemporary, Cape Town, SA and The Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg, SA *1997 Own, Hänel Gallery, Cape Town, SA and The Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg, SA *1996 Brett Murray: New Sculptures, Gallery Frank Hänel, Frankfurt, Germany *1996 White Boy Sings the Blues, Rembrandt van Rijn Gallery, Johannesburg, SA * 1995

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of ...

Awards and merits

*2007 Finalist, Spier Contemporaries *2002 Winner, collaboration with the late Stefaans Samcuia, Cape Town International Convention Centre, Public Art Competition *1998 Winner, Cape Town Urban Art Foundation, Sculpture Competition *1992 Finalist, Cape Town Urban Art Foundation, Sculpture Competition *1992 Finalist, Waterfront Sculpture Competition, Cape Town

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Murray, Brett 20th-century South African sculptors Michaelis School of Fine Art alumni Political artists South African people of British descent 1961 births Living people 21st-century South African sculptors Male sculptors People from Pretoria Pop artists