Colour Test ,2010
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Exhibited :
Literature : cf. Sue Williamson. (1989) Resistance Art in South Africa, Cape Town: David Philip. A similiar example illustrated in colour on page 80
cf. Esmé Berman. (1983) Art & Artists of South Africa, Goodwood: National Book Printers. A similar example illustrated on page 321
Notes : Berman writes on Payne's first solo exhibition after his return from studying in London: Among the items on view was the innovative screenprint, Colour Test, in which he made use of a 63 x 90cm enlargement of his personal Identity Card, replacing the portrait photograph with a replica of the standard multiple-dot test for colour-blindness. The integration of these 'readymade' componenents produced a statement that was both artistically valid and conceptually significant.1
Sue Williamson adds, ...the identity card (since replaced by the 'book of life') which, by the information on race it supplies to officials, controls every aspect of every citizen's life from birth to death - where he or she may live, go to school, even be buried. 'I consciously made no aesthetic decisions', says Payne, who printed photographic silkscreens from blow-ups of the cards. He altered the images slightly, however. On one of the cards he substituted a test for colour blindness where the photo should have gone.2
1 Esmé Berman. (1983) Art & Artists of South Africa, Goodwood: National Book Printers. Page 321.
2 Sue Williamson. (1989) Resistance Art in South Africa, Cape Town: David Philip. Page 80.
Similiar examples form part of the Iziko National Gallery Permanent Collection and the Wits Art Museum.
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