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Beyond words: Brett Murray’s latest show Brood, which is on at the Circa Gallery in Johannesburg, consists of 24 sculptures and reliefs, devoid of the text with which he has come to be associated.

The soft heart of a stone thrower

Brett Murray speaks about the shift in the work that appears on his new exhibition This content is restricted to registered users and subscribers. Get Your Free Account The Mail…

Brett Murray: Small on penises, big on satire

Kicks and pricks aside, can Brett Murray’s work ever be read ignoring the brouhaha his Spear painting caused? The short answer: Maybe.

Louis Mabokela

‘The Spear’ vandalism case postponed

The trial of Louis Mabokela, accused of vandalising the Jacob Zuma ‘The Spear’ painting, has been postponed in the Hillbrow Magistrate’s Court.

Land art: Pieter Hugo’s work at The Loom of the Land exhibition.

Documents of fictionalisation

The Loom of the Land shows South Africa through the eyes of more than 20 artists, but the exhibition’s politeness may leave art lovers unsatisfied.

Sean “Puffy” Combs at Art Basel Miami Beach in front of the artwork he bought

Diddy buys Murray at Art Basel Miami Beach

An artwork from Brett Murray’s controversial "Hail to the Thief II" exhibition has been snatched up by hip-hop royalty Sean "Puffy" Combs.

The Film and Publications Board cannot ban online images

Appeal tribunal shreds classification of ‘The Spear’

The Film and Publications Board cannot ban online images, an appeal tribunal told it this week.

Artist Ayanda Mabulu poses with his controversial painting “Umshini Wam – Weapon of Mass Destruction” at the AVA Gallery in Cape Town.

McKaiser: Nudity has lost its political potency

The reaction to a new painting of President Jacob Zuma with his genitals exposed has been banal but in an interesting way, Eusebius McKaiser has said.

The Goodman Gallery has appealed a ruling that children should be protected from the Spear painting.

‘The Spear’ returns as gallery takes on classification

The Goodman Gallery has appealed a ruling that children should be protected from the ‘Spear’ painting, saying the FPB does not have the authority.

The Goodman Gallery has appealed a ruling that children should be protected from the Spear painting.

The ‘Sarah Baartmanisation’ of the black body

Songstress Simphiwe Dana pens a letter to City Press editor, Ferial Haffajee, on the role "The Spear" had in dehumanising black people.

The Goodman Gallery has appealed a ruling that children should be protected from the Spear painting.

Elitist attacks imperil change

The political tsunami generated by "The Spear" has begun to subside, so there is some relative calm in which to assess the consequences of the outcry.

The “paintergate” case of the president’s penis roiling South Africa has two distinct aspects: the first descriptive

The best way to deal with ‘The Spear’

The heavy-handed response to the Brett Murray’s painting raises the ominous spectre of the state silencing dissent, writes Anne McClintock

‘Obey Zuma’ posters sprang up around Johannesburg overnight

The art of marching: ANC ‘Spear’ protest hits the road

The battle against the controversial "Spear" painting moves to the streets as thousands of ANC supporters prepare to march on the Goodman Gallery.

The Goodman Gallery has appealed a ruling that children should be protected from the Spear painting.

City Press editor: ‘I don’t respond to threats’

City Press editor Ferial Haffajee says the ANC is no longer a party of ideas and debate.

Advocate Gcina Malindi leaves the Johannesburg High Court where he appeared for South African President Jacob Zuma in a case to have a portrait of Zuma removed from a gallery and websites.

Meet the man who shed a tear for Zuma’s spear

Described as "a sensitive man" by Nelson Mandela’s lawyer, Gcina Malindi is the anti-apartheid activist now best known for his tearful breakdown.

New Beginnings by Brett Murray.

Brett Murray: Putting it bluntly

Rory Bester believes that the violent outrage at Brett Murray’s painting of Jacob Zuma is as unsurprising as Murray’s work itself.

Democracy is a fine art

I am one of those who feel that the controversial Brett Murray painting, The Spear, denigrates our president.

Motorists warned ahead of gallery march

Freedom vs dignity in art debate

How far can artists go in satirising or sending up the powerful? Nickolaus Bauer reports on different value clashes over Brett Murray’s ‘The Spear’.

A silkscreen graphic of a silhouetted figure with AK-47 that forms the backdrop to a refashioned quote by executed Umkhonto weSizwe cadre Solomon Mahlangu.

The fine art of drawing the line

Sean O’Toole explores some of the portrayals of the naked black body that have elicited fierce reactions in SA’s recent past.

Barend la Grange.

Zuma painting defaced to ‘prevent civil war’

One of the men accused of defacing "The Spear" artwork said he did it to defuse a situation that could have turned into a race war.

Supporters of the African National Congress demonstrate outside Johannesburg court on May 22 to demand the removal of a portrait of Jacob Zuma posing as Lenin with his genitals exposed from the Goodman Gallery.

Defacing race and culture: The Spear and politics of representation

Brett Murray’s artwork has brought into sharp focus the issue of black people’s representation at the hands of whites, writes Mpho Moshe Matheolane.