TAXI-015 PAUL STOPFORTH

David Krut Publishing has produced the 15th title in the TAXI Art Books series comprising essays by Kate McCrickard, Leora Maltz, Judith Mason, Anne Sasson.

Early in his career, Paul Stopforth produced several bodies of work that were startling in their courageous engagement with the repressive society in which he found himself. His uncompromising refusal to turn away from a world of pain and injustice cost him dearly, but earned him enormous respect from his peers and from discerning art critics who saw his work in its first, youthful incarnations at The Market Theatre Gallery, where he was a director from 1977 to 1984. Stopforth left South Africa for the United States in the late 1980s, despairing that there would ever be change in South Africa. He took up a teaching position at Harvard University and exhibited his work at many museums and galleries in the USA.

Despite this separation of miles and years, Stopforth has maintained ties with the country of his birth, returning for short periods to do work that engages intensely with the physical and psychological landscapes of home. In 2004, during a residency on Robben Island, he created a series of poignant paintings reflecting on the intense memories contained in such mundane objects as old blanket pins, cabinets, and bars of soap used by the prisoners incarcerated on the island before 1994. The series stands as a watershed in his oeuvre, connecting past to present not only in its subject matter but also in Stopforth’s own trajectory as an artist.

Over time, Stopforth’s work has become less overtly political but no less engaged with the world. He is an acute observer of the minutiae of everyday life and keenly attuned to the significance of ordinary objects, which he imbues with dignity and careful metaphorical significance in a palette that ranges from the soft earthy tones of the Robben Island series to the startling pinks, yellows and greens of his recent work.

Stopforth has exhibited his work since 1971 in galleries and museums in South Africa, the United States and Europe. He has served as curator and juror for a number of institutions and competitions, and in 2004 he delivered the Ruth First Memorial Lecture at Brandeis University. His work is held in many public and private collections in South Africa and abroad.

TAXI-015 Paul Stopforth is published in full colour in softcover by David Krut Publishing. Retail price R150 - ISBN 978-0-9814328-2-3

More information from David Krut Publishing on 011 880 5646, email: books@davidkrut.com or visit www.davidkrutpublishing.com