Stanley Pinker; South African 1924-2012; Somewhere in Cloud Kuku Land
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Notes : Stanely Pinker's work evolved in the 1980s when he began to explore pushing the limits of the traditional rectangular canvas. He started integrating found objects into his works which extended the field of the painting beyond the frame, as seen in the present lot. The title, Cloud Kuku Land, is worked into the flat, modernist planes of colour and shape with stencilled letters. The title alludes to a foolish utopian dreamland and links to something that the then prime minister of Britain, Margaret Thatcher supposedly said: 'The ANC is a typical terrorist organisation… anyone who thinks it is going to run the government in South Africa is living in cloud-cuckoo land'. Pinker generally avoided overtly political statements in his work and preferred a subtle satirical approach. The replacing of 'cuckoo' with 'kuku' creates a localised version, as 'kuku' means chicken. Although, the bird in the centre of the wheel could also refer to a cuckoo clock, creating a sense of immediacy while also reflecting on the absurdity of South African life.
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