William Kentridge has been announced as the Slade Professor of Fine Art for 2023/4 at the University of Oxford. Kentridge, born in Johannesburg, South Africa in 1955, is renowned for his drawings, films, theatre, and opera productions. His method combines drawing, writing, film, performance, music, theatre, and collaborative practices to create works of art that are grounded in politics, science, literature and history, whilst yet maintaining a space for contradiction and uncertainty. His aesthetics are drawn from the medium of film’s own history, from stop-motion animation to early special effects. Kentridge’s drawing, specifically the dynamism of an erased and redrawn mark, is an integral part of his expanded animation and filmmaking practice, where the meanings of his films are developed during the process of their making.
The lecture series, titled ‘A Natural History of the Studio’, is scheduled to take place in person during the Hilary term of 2024 at the South School, Examination Schools.