Study for Portrait of Oppression (Homage to Black South Africans) 1985

Benny Andrews made this work, *Study for Portrait of Oppression*, in 1985 using collage and oil paint. It feels like a painting that’s been built up, worked over, and maybe even fought with! I can imagine Andrews, layering pieces of canvas, torn fabric and thick daubs of paint, as if he's trying to piece together a broken story. The way Andrews uses paint is so visceral, you can almost feel the weight of it. Those bold, black strokes that form the chain links, hanging heavy against the figure. The face itself is a mask of raw emotion, like a collage of fragmented feelings, a window into the inner turmoil of oppression. I see echoes of artists like Romare Bearden in the way Andrews combines collage with painting. There’s a shared interest in exploring identity and history through a fractured lens. Ultimately, painting is about embracing the messy, the unresolved, the ambiguous. It's about creating a space for dialogue, for questioning, for understanding. It's a reminder that art is never finished, but always evolving, always in conversation with itself and the world around it.