Chocolat

In this subversive painting, a fleshy nude dominates the left foreground of the image, and is framed by a simple outline device Phokela often uses to concentrate the attention of the viewer and to subvert the terms of engagement with such a work.

The nude looks back over her shoulder, gazing at the viewer with an unmistakably coy look. In the background, the lustful or exasperated male figures turn the painting into a farcical interrogation of the exalted position of the NUDE in classical painting. There is however, an implied violence and sinister undertone in the background of the painting, despite the sweetly knowing gaze of the nude figure. 

Artwork courtesy of Johannesburg Art Gallery.