Jo Ractliffe. Nadir 15 and 16 from Nadir. 1988
Jo Ractliffe (South African, born 1961; lives Johannesburg). Nadir 15 and Nadir 16 from Nadir. 1988. Two from a series of sixteen photolithograph and screenprints. Composition (each): 21 9/16 x 33 7/8" (54.8 x 86 cm); sheet (each): 27 3/16 x 39 1/8" (69 x 99.3 cm). Publisher: the artist, Cape Town. Printer: the artist at Michaelis School of Fine Art, University of Cape Town. Edition: 10. Gift of the Associates of the Department of Prints and Illustrated Books, 2007. © 2011 Jo Ractliffe
In the series Nadir, Jo Ractliffe has combined photographs of aggressive dogs, squatter camps, forced removals, relocation settlements, and garbage dumps to communicate the widespread fear and violence caused by the states of emergency imposed by the apartheid government in its desperation to maintain control of South Africa. The artist has described Nadir as “a way to image this ‘world gone mad,’ without simply reiterating the discourse of resistance.” She combined dozens of photographic details to arrive at final montages, which she then printed using layers of screenprint, photolithography, and varnish.
