Leading South African artist Norman Catherine is known for comical and macabre works that often impart a cynical view of the world. Catherine’s diverse output includes paintings, mixed-media works, bronze sculptures, printmaking, etching, and weaving. His surrealistic aesthetic is defined by crude lines and materials such as wood, bone, and barbed wire. Absurd, cartoonish figures populate his depictions of gory and otherwise nightmarish scenes. These horrific and catastrophic images are, in part, Catherine’s response to the atrocities of apartheid. Active since 1969, Catherine has produced work that is highly sought after. Fanagalo Store (1995), a cabinet sculpture populated by painted wooden figures and once owned by David Bowie, shattered estimates when it sold for $102,381 at auction in 2016. The artist has participated in prestigious international exhibitions, including the 1993 Venice Biennale. His work is held in museum collections across South Africa as well as in the Museum of Modern Art and the Brooklyn Museum.
