Moon and Dog

Object Details

David Koloane, born 1938, South Africa

Label Text

"My work is characterized by two disparate communities. The one is the commuter who travels from the township to the city. The other belongs to the canine community of stray dogs which roam the townships. . . . Their [dogs] existence is almost a minute to minute feat of survival. . . . Stray dogs also symbolize the way the apartheid system made people live in subhuman conditions . . . and represents the violence that is endemic in the townships. The dogs are agents of violence unleashed on communities" (David Koloane in Sue Williamson and Ashraf Jamal. 1996. Art in South Africa: The Future Present. Cape Town: David Philip Publishers, p. 56).

Description

Acrylic on canvas painting of a purple dog with bared fangs standing in a pink-orange-purple city scape, with high rise buildings in the background and a white moon in the indigo sky.

Exhibition History

Conversations: African and African American Artworks in Dialogue - From the Collections of the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art and Camille O. and William H. Cosby, Jr., National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, November 7, 2014-January 24, 2016

Artful Animals, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., July 1, 2009-July 25, 2010

Claiming Art / Reclaiming Space: Post Apartheid Art from South Africa, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., June 21-September 26, 1999

Published References

Kreamer, Christine Mullen and Adrienne L. Childs (eds). 2014. Conversations: African and African American Artworks in Dialogue from the Collections of the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art and Camille O. and William H. Cosby, Jr. Washington, D.C.: National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, p. 144, pl. 62.

Content Statement

As part of our commitment to accessibility and transparency, the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art is placing its collection records online. Please note that some records are incomplete (missing image or content descriptions) and others reflect out-of-date language or systems of thought regarding how to engage with and discuss cultural heritage and the specifics of individual artworks. If you see content requiring immediate action, we will do our best to address it in a timely manner. Please email nmafacuratorial@si.edu if you have any questions.

Image Requests

High resolution digital images are not available for some objects. For publication quality photography and permissions, please contact the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives at https://africa.si.edu/research/eliot-elisofon-photographic-archives/

Credit Line

Museum purchase

1995

Object number

96-31-1

Restrictions & Rights

Usage conditions apply

Copyright

© 1995 David Koloane

Type

Painting

Medium

Acrylic on canvas

Dimensions

H x W: 109.3 x 104 cm (43 1/16 x 40 15/16 in.)

Geography

South Africa

See more items in

National Museum of African Art Collection

National Museum of African Art

Topic

dog

Record ID

nmafa_96-31-1

Metadata Usage (text)

Usage conditions apply

GUID (Link to Original Record)

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ys7e5d082d6-face-4d30-89a9-1819fb9ad97b