Discourses on Johannes Phokela’s art have primarily centred on the significance of his annexation of the Dutch genre of traditional painting. Phokela has attributed this focus to idle reviewers who use the internet as their main source of information rather than his art.
Johannes Phokela, Altruistic Narcissism 3, 2008, oil sketch, 58 x 58cm Courtesy artist’s collectionDiscourseson Johannes Phokela’s art have primarily centred on the significance ofhis annexation of the Dutch genre of traditional painting. Phokela hasattributed this focus to idle reviewers who use the internet as theirmain source of information rather than his art. This large soloexhibition, which encompasses a range of works from his ‘Dutch period’to more recent works that no longer reference this idiom, should shiftthe interpretation of his aesthetic. In the catalogue accompanying theexhibition, Bronwyn Law-Viljoen once again mines Phokela’s mimicry ofthe socalled Masters, comparing the ‘originals’ to Phokela’s ‘copies’in an effort to sniff out his devious alterations. It is obviouslytempting to go this route but such an approach can be tedious; he drawsfrom a multitude of sources that are not limited to art’s canon. READ FULL REVIEW IN PRINT EDITION
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