African Maquette

The figure of the cartoon character Bart Simpson is welded to a copy of an African curio in this maquette, which now stands in Cape Town as a large public sculpture called Africa.

Murray frequently employs popular or ‘low’ art in his work as a way of demythologising art and poking fun at the seriousness of the art world. But there is another note in this work, suggested by his ironic use of the word Africa for the title.

The sculpture reminds us that the notion of ‘Africa’ as a unified, homogenous place is problematic, and that the western perceptions of African ‘culture’ are often informed by racism and ignorance. The work suggests, with humour and a lightness of touch, that ‘Africa’ is many things to many people on the continent. 

Artwork courtesy of the Artist and Everard Read Gallery.