Diane Victor - Prints, Drawings, Smoke

This book is a monograph published on the artist Diane Victor. It aims to raise awareness of the work of this important figure of the South African and international contemporary art scene through a biographical text that retraces the main stages of her career and a stylistic analysis of the work.

Visual artist and engraver, Diane Victor is known for her confrontations with difficult subjects, sometimes taboo and her satirical and social observations on contemporary South African politics considering the issues of corruption, violence and unequal distribution of power.

The works of the different periods and all its techniques will be represented in the work as portraits and animals with soot, charcoal drawings and engravings.

Born in 1964 in Witbank, South Africa, Diane Victor deals with the taboos of South African society, social and political life marred by violence, corruption and social disparities. Exploring her anger, through images in various media such as ash, candle smoke or impression, she represents the fragility and vulnerability of life, thus attempting to raise awareness, combining aesthetic elements with disturbing content.

She is now one of South Africa’s best-known artists with her work in many private and public collections, including the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York and the Bibliothèque nationale, France. Her contribution to engraving in South Africa is immense where she teaches drawing and engraving in several art schools.