Kagiso Pat Mautloa
South African, born 1952
Untitled
2000
Mixed media on wood
Smithsonian National Museum of African Art
Purchased with funds provided by the Annie Laurie Aitken Endowment, 2000-23-1
Kagiso Pat Mautloa’s work portrays the interconnectedness of living with HIV/AIDS and life in South African townships. The goal of the work is twofold: comment on the struggle that is living with HIV/AIDS in South Africa and facilitate personal healing.
The personal toll of living with HIV/AIDS necessitates attempts to provide psychological relief (Hubbell 2016: 14). For Mautloa, artistic depictions of township life––barbed wire (bent into a heart), fences, inadequate medicine (the small portrayal of the apothecary’s window on the left), and poor access to water (the figure carrying water on the right)––are critical components for coping. The work is subtle in its allusions, indicating the personal nature of healing. Additionally, present is Mautloa’s critique of local misconceptions of the causes and spread of HIV/AIDS.
Alexander Kogan ’20
Bibliography:
Ford, Alyssa. “Healing Arts: Five hospitals demonstrate models for integrating art in institutional settings.” Public Art Review 24, no. 2, issue 48 (April 2013): 36-41. http://search.ebscohost.com/login/aspx?direct=true&db=aft&AN=93540155&site=ehost-live>.
Ford’s article is useful, as it uses case studies to look at the effectiveness of past attempts to employ the healing powers of arts. This is at the heart of the Mautloa’s purpose.
Hubbell, Leesa. “The Healing Power of Textile Arts.” Surface Design Journal 40, no. 3 (2016): 14-19. http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=16&sid=d61b8112-e7f2-4031-b087-3a3473675005%40sdc-v-sessmgr06.
This article is of inherent use in terms of understanding the psychological healing powers of art. While the article is about textile art, it is still useful to Mautloa’s painting, insofar as it provides context into the usefulness of artistic healing, which is at the heart of this painting and the “Healing Arts” exhibition as a whole.
Koloane, David. “Kagiso Pat Mautloa.” In 10 years 100 artists: Art in a Democratic South Africa, edited by Sophie Perryer, 242-245. Cape Town: Bell-Roberts Publishing, 2004.
This short chapter provides great insight into Mautloa’s artistic styles and backgrounds. This is inherently useful when trying to interpret his work in relation to the topic of the healing powers of art.
Smithsonian National Museum of African Art. 2019. “Healing Arts.” Accessed April 23, 2019. https://africa.si.edu/exhibitions/current-exhibitions/healing-arts/.
