Superstroke is a term used for a contemporary art movement with its origins in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. Superstroke is one of the influential art movements regarding African modernism and abstraction. The word "Superstroke" implies the super expressive brush stroke. The Superstroke art movement was initially founded as a reaction to the impact that the

Superflat Superflat is a postmodern art movement, founded by Japanese contemporary artist Takashi Murakami, which is influenced by manga and anime. However, superflat does not have an explicit definition because Takashi Murakami does not want to limit ...

art movement, founded by

Takashi Murakami is a Japanese contemporary artist. He works in fine arts (such as painting and sculpture) as well as commercial media (such as fashion, merchandise, and animation) and is known for blurring the line between High art, high and low arts. His wo ...

had on modern contemporary art.

Manifesto

The manifesto for the Superstroke art movement was written in 2008 by the South African artist Conrad Bo and deals with various forms of how paintings in the movement should be executed. This includes the statement that paintings should be created by using very expressive brush strokes. The manifesto also deals with photography and states that expressionism is more important than photo-realism. Then the manifesto states that abstract and figurative art is allowed in Superstroke. It goes further and states that certain subject matters are encouraged, and also makes mention of an African theme. Finally the manifesto states that the concept of "art for the sake of art" does not apply, and that members of the movement must produce paintings with texture, and excessive brush or pencil strokes.

Influences

Although the concept of Superstroke was a reaction to

, the paintings in the Superstroke art movement are heavily influenced by

Alberto Giacometti Alberto Giacometti (, , ; 10 October 1901 – 11 January 1966) was a Swiss sculptor, painter, Drafter, draftsman and Printmaking, printmaker, who was one of the most important sculptors of the 20th century. His work was particularly influenced ...

Pablo Picasso Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, Ceramic art, ceramicist, and Scenic ...

and

Vincent van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who is among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art. In just over a decade, he created approximately 2,100 artworks ...

Artwork

Art in Superstroke, varies from realism to abstract, monochrome and full color. Different media such as

collage Collage (, from the , "to glue" or "to stick together") is a technique of art creation, primarily used in the visual arts, but in music too, by which art results from an assembly of different forms, thus creating a new whole. (Compare with pasti ...

, charcoal and plaster of paris are used. Paintings in Superstroke are also identifiable by the frequent use of mathematical signs such as plus, minus, and equal signs.

Contributors

Artists whose artworks are regarded as Superstroke are, Greg Simmonds, Diiezel, Mr. Sputnik, Menno Baars, John Zaverdino, May Wentworth, Conrad Bo, Jaco Erwee, Laetitia Lups.

References

*''One Small Seed Magazine'' - The South African Pop Culture Magazine *Peffer, J. 2009. ''Art at the end of apartheid''. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

External links