Drawing from 'Preparing the Flute' (Queen of the Night I), 2005, borrowed from Marian Goodman Gallery Over the holiday I went to the Norton Museum of Art in Palm Beach and saw the exhibit William Kentridge: Five Themes. I didn't know this South African artist before but after seeing the exhibition I was instantly won over.

Drawing from 'Preparing the Flute' (Queen of the Night I), 2005, borrowed from Marian Goodman Gallery

His work is quite diverse and includes drawings, animations, theater models, sculptures, and collages on books. What he is most known for are his animations. He uses charcoal like a sculptor would manipulate clay to transforms drawings into expressive animated films, adding and removing from the medium to create motion. I remember doing charcoal drawings in my late teens and wanting them to move. I wish I had thought of a way to do it. To see Kentridge's animation process, check out this feature by SFMOMA, who co-organized the exhibit.

Black Box/Chambre Noire, 2006 - Model theater with drawings, borrowed from art21.org

My favorite part of the show displays a piece called Sarastro and the Master's Voice: The Magic Flute. It's an installation of three sculptural pieces - one blackboard and two miniature theaters, on which are projected film sequences. Kentridge initiated this work when preparing for a 2005 production of Mozart's opera The Magic Flute. The films are shown sequentially, starting with Learning the Flute (2003) on the blackboard, then Preparing the Flute (2005) on the first theater, and finally Black Box/Chambre Noire (2005) on the second theater. Learning the Flute serves as a sketchbook for the production as a whole while the theater projections engage in a dialogue around the philosophy of Enlightenment. In Preparing the Flute, we see Mozart's depiction of mankind's evolution from obscurantism to enlightenment. Black Box/Chambre Noire is Kentridge's way to denounce "the damages of colonialism, which described its predation to itself as bringing enlightenment to the Dark Continent." You really have to see it in action to appreciate this amazing creation. I found a few videos here and there of the theater projects, Preparing the Flute and Black Box/Chambre Noire.

Also of interest is an interview of the artist on his motivation in producing an opera and how his previous experience in visual arts, film, theater, and an old desire to be a conductor brought him to do this kind of work. The exhibit is almost over at the Norton Museum, but it will soon show at New York's MoMA, Feb 24 to May 17. If at all possible, try to go see it, the Times lists it as the second top art exhibition of 2009.