By Tim Leibbrandt, published on ArtThrob This article aims to look at the spate of South African exhibitions this year (including exhibitions by Kemang Wa Lehulere, Burning Museum, Athi-Patra Ruga and Lizza Littlewort) which have used acts of quotation, reinterpretation and re-presentation to pay homage or offer pointed critique (sometimes both) to previously existing artworks…

Niklas Zimmer Lizza Littlewort’s uncomfortably beautiful paintings embody images that take issue. Frame by frame, these oil-covered boards stage an irreverent counter-narrative to the dominant, conservative (art) historical canon as it is institutionally upheld in present-day South Africa. By détourning[1] the works of ‘household name’ old Dutch masters like Rembrandt, Vermeer and Hals, as well…

Artist’s Statement about Dutch works referred to in We Live in the Past Lizza Littlewort, September 2015. This body of work is inspired by the research I did during my Honours in English Literature, andfurther research towards a Masters on the narratives surrounding the early Cape. This subject has been brilliantly written about by Dr Hedley…

The latest exhibition from South African artist Lizza Littlewort looks at her family’s heritage, and it is as focused on the history of settler colonialism as it is a frank message to today’s white South Africans. Read more…

Lizza Littlewort is acutely cognisant of the past and the tangible hold it has over our present lived realities. Her most recent body of work, We Live in the Past, currently on at 99 Loop until 28th November, is a biting critique of historical amnesia (but not without a sense of humour), and how this…