Parade In The Shadow Of History

William Kentridge is a famous contemporary artist in South Africa.His art has a great influence all over the world,and he is also known as the window to understand South African contemporary art.Kentridge's artistic concept is based on the profound reflection on the history and politics of South Africa,and extends the dimension of thinking to the discussion of the contradiction of human nature itself.His works have various media forms,including print,sketch,animated film,installation,stage play and large-scale public projects.And each kind of media further blend and transform each other.He has a deep exploration and development on the concepts and languages of painting,performance,film and other subjects.His works are full of humanistic spirit and speculation on morality,philosophy and science,with a strong personal language style.As we all know,South Africa has many traumatic experiences: it has experienced a long colonial rule and apartheid,and it is still deeply mired in violent crime.Kentridge's works are rooted in the history and society of South Africa from his own experience and experience.His art reflects on the relationship between European centralism,colonialism and rationalism by observing the postcolonial ecology and post apartheid social structure in South Africa and tracing its roots.To be exact,his art originates from reflection and inquiry of the root of human nature.This paper starts with the study of Kentridge's cultural background and social background,and analyzes the theme and media in his works and its development context through the methods of iconography,sociology and art,so as to reflect the relationship between art and history,art and politics,art and society.At the same time,it also reflects on how painting should continue to have influence in the contemporary art environment with the case study of Kentridge.