Helene Love-Allotey
Head of Department
Lot 133*
Stanley Faraday Pinker(South African, 1924-2012)Referendum, 1992
Amended
12 October 2023, 14:00 BST
London, New Bond StreetSold for £51,200 inc. premium
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Stanley Faraday Pinker (South African, 1924-2012)
Referendum, 1992
signed 'S7Pinker' (centre left); bears a Michael Stevenson & Deon Viljoen label (verso)
oil and mixed media on canvas, wood and hardboard
142 x 99cm (55 7/8 x 39in).
signed 'S7Pinker' (centre left); bears a Michael Stevenson & Deon Viljoen label (verso)
oil and mixed media on canvas, wood and hardboard
142 x 99cm (55 7/8 x 39in).
Footnotes
Provenance
A private collection.
Literature
Michael Stevenson, Stanley Pinker, (Cape Town: Michael Stevenson, 2004), p. 90. (illustrated)
Born in what was then known as South West Africa (modern-day Namibia) in 1924, Stanley Pinker's work strongly embodies the political climate of his cultural context. The artist tackles and confronts issues of socio-politics and its implications and consequences. In the 1950s and 1960s, Pinker travelled to England where the growth of his career would start to bloom. In execution, his works adopt the early 20th century modernism that was popular for the time. Spending a significant amount of time in London, Pinker became strongly influenced by the Cubist movement. The present work is a testament to this early exploration and embodies a study of form, colour, and structure.
Referendum (1992) was made in response to a precise event in South African history which took place on the 17th March 1992. This was the day of a whites-only referendum by which 68.6% of voters chose to proceed with negotiations to reform the constitution and therefore lifting the apartheid restrictions. Two years prior to the referendum, the State President, Frederik Willem de Klerk, had first proposed the ending of the apartheid.
Capturing the mood of the time, Pinker seizes the feelings of angst and chaos of both sides of the referendum to the top of the piece, external to what could be considered as the traditional main body of the work being the more symmetrical lower half of the work. When addressing his tendency to explore art creation beyond the generic space of a canvas, Pinker commented, "I've always thought of space as something 'tangible' and have been drawn to artists who have used mural-like space rather than artists who create an illusion of space through perspective". (Stanley Pinker in Michael Stevenson, Stanley Pinker, (Cape Town: Michael Stevenson, 2004), p. 19.) Beyond the geometrical lower half of the work, Pinker has imbedded relevant symbolism and metaphorical techniques to communicate the contrasting angst of the people. With a colour palette relevant to the symbolism of the event that it being recounted, the small signs reading Yes! bear the colours of the old South African flag, and No! display the colours of the opposition, the ANC (African National Congress).
Between the raging white figure, mouth open and with flushed cheeks, and the more demure Black figure with eyes averted to the left, a traditional mask of the Bwa people champions a figure holding an ANC flag and gong baton. Representing a victory of the ANC, the party would go onto govern the country from 1994 under the Presidential direction of Nelson Mandela.
The main panel to the lower end of the work situates a different mood; playfully blissful and vibrant in palette and concisely organised in execution. This area of the work bears the intention of representing politicians. Assisted by the more ordered structure of painting, they appear emotionally passive and harmonious in comparison to the chaotic energy of the work outside of this geometrically even board. It is this contrast in mood that evokes a sense of the grandiose ignorance of the three representational birds to the reality of the tumultuous lives of the people prior to the end of the apartheid.
This animated and socio-politically conscious work can be concluded as one of Pinker's most striking, cementing itself in a prominent position in his oeuvre.
Bibliography
Michael Stevenson, Stanley Pinker, (Cape Town: Michael Stevenson, 2004)
Saleroom notices
Please note: The artist's middle name is spelt 'Fereday', not 'Faraday' as is incorrectly stated in the cataloguing. This work's signature should read 'SFPinker', not 'S7Pnker' as is incorrectly stated in the cataloguing. The provenance of this work should read 'The collection of the artist's family.', not 'A private collection' as is incorrectly stated in the cataloguing.
