Repelling the Viewer (Abigail Norris & Jerry Rothwell)

Johannes Phokela, as he explains, has always been fascinated by iconic images and how they have “infiltrated our lives.” So this very unusual painter takes those images from classic paintings of the European masters and twists and turns them into satires of contemporary life. It might be turning a muscular white man black as he drapes himself over a nude woman, or hanging a cigarette from the mouth of a female, or adding a clown nose here and there. Filmmaker Jerry Rothwell’s camera captures Phokela at work, putting words to the brush strokes that transform allegories from centuries past into notions that could be considered subversive, as an unsettling cello underlines notions that could be considered subversive. At least, Phokela hopes so.