Garth Erasmus
Garth Erasmus (born 1956) is a South African artist and musician recognized for his inventive use of different materials. His creative work is deeply rooted in his KhoiSan heritage, honoring South Africa’s First Nation people. Originally from the Eastern Cape, Erasmus currently resides and works in Kraaifontein near Cape Town. He studied at Paterson High School in Port Elizabeth, completed teacher training at Hewat Training College in Cape Town, and later attended Rhodes University. Erasmus founded the Vakalisa Arts Associates community organization and took part in the Thupelo Workshop program during the 1980s. Additionally, he has significant experience as both a facilitator and educator.
Garth Erasmus (b. 1956) is a South African visual artist and musician best known for his innovative use of materials. His work focuses on his heritage, the KhoiSan, SA`s First Nation people. Originally from the Eastern Cape he now lives and works in Kraaifontein (outside Cape Town). He attended Paterson High School in Port Elizabeth and later attended a teacher training program at Hewat Training College in Cape Town. He later attended Rhodes University and founded the community artists organization Vakalisa Arts Associates in the Cape. He was a participant in the Thupelo Workshop program during the 1980s and has extensive experience as a facilitator and teacher.
Garth Erasmus unsettles the hegemonic, exclusionary constructions of African and coloured identity through introspective explorations of his decolonial identity, frequently presented on an intimate scale. Erasmus' work is represented in several art collections, including the National Museum of African Art and the Smithsonian Institution. Among other formats Erasmus is known for his Resistance Art protesting the apartheid regime in South Africa. Beginning as graffiti protest art his State of Emergency series depicts images of entrapment. Writing in a review of the Smithsonian's National Museum of African Arts 2002 exhibition "Encounters with the Contemporary," critic Mark D'Amato called Erasmus' painting The Muse 3 (1995) "a highlight." Erasmus' work uses his archival research to approach his Khoisan lineage and drawing on figures from Khoisan cosmology. Erasmus has "employed Afrikaans text to comment on the brutal Khoisan history and its impact on present descendants, opening a window onto the way this history has been repressed." He has also provided illustrations for numerous books, including Nape 'a Motana's book of proverbs, published in 2004, as well as a volume of conversations with figures from Cape Town's District 6.
