Anton Kannemeyer

2011

Print, 48.7 x 76 cm.
Materials: 9 colour lithograph, edition of 25

Collection: Courtesy of the artist.

The first prints that Anton Kannemeyer did at The Artists' Press he focussed on images from his Alphabet of Democracy series. The first were done in 2005 J is for Jack Russell and D is for dancing ministers. The initial reference is to childhood primers and illustrated alphabets, Letterland gets political...The text on the prints reflects his obsession with hand typography and the style of the prints recalls his earlier silk-screens with the backgrounds of flat colour.

In 2008 Anton Kannemeyer added the following lithographs to the Alphabet of Democracy. G is for goodhealth, B is for black, W is for white, N is for nightmare and F is for footwashing.These prints refer to local, South African events and definitions from dictionaries used in schools; but their meaning extends way beyond South African borders and picks up on prejudices and social issues across the globe. N is for nightmare and the B is for black and W is for white would resonate as quickly in the USA and Europe as they do here on the southern tip of Africa.