When I started shilling for Soutie Press I was expecting a cake walk. The art of Anton Kannemeyer and Conrad Botes – from their large-scale works to dime-store comic books – is after all famous worldwide, revered, controversial (ka-ching!), iconic, culturally indicting, relevant and enduring, and undeniably, irrevocably, inimitablygood. Start some social media profiles, promote the shit out of it guaranteeing targeted reach, and convert to sale – easy!
What happens when art becomes mass commodity? In Anton Kannemeyer's case, politically subversive satire runs the risk of misrepresentation and, ultimately, a new kind of censorship. Arts24 interviewed Anton in July 2020 to discuss the Twitter furore that erupted after his designs were removed from fashion and decor commerce website, Superbalist.
In the August 2020 edition of Art Times, Conrad Botes and Anton Kannemeyer take a moment to talk about their new books, a fresh wave of censorship and the hypocrisy of the middle class.
