Man on Langalibalele Dube Street, Durban 2018

Curator: Cameron Platter's "Man on Langalibalele Dube Street, Durban," created in 2018 using acrylic paint, offers a striking composition. What's your immediate reaction to this work? Editor: It feels both playful and slightly unsettling. The bright, almost garish colours and flattened perspective give it a pop art vibe, but there's a disjointed quality to the figures that creates tension. Curator: Precisely. Platter masterfully manipulates colour and form. Note how he eschews traditional perspective, opting instead for bold, graphic shapes and a flattened picture plane. The interplay of positive and negative space creates a dynamic visual rhythm. Editor: The title mentions a specific street in Durban, yet the image abstracts the figure to near-cartoonish levels. Do you see this abstraction referencing a symbolic language particular to the location or even more universal meanings? Curator: Indeed. I would argue that by stripping away specific details, Platter emphasizes the symbolic weight of colour and shape. The oversized, glove-like hands, for example, evoke a sense of performance or ritual. And their colour is intriguing, the figure appears more artificial. Editor: Thinking about it symbolically, these disconnected limbs remind me of fragmented memories or even distorted representations of people found within street culture itself. Curator: It is equally interesting, of course, that while ostensibly abstract, the painting also engages with very specific realities. Editor: Ultimately, this piece uses both distortion and symbolism. A fascinating intersection between image and locale, with the power to ignite conversations about cultural symbols, representations, and our place within society. Curator: Precisely. This particular composition makes the artwork unforgettable.