In South Africa, the tradition of artists waitinginterminably for the nod from a commercial gallery or museum curator to exhibit their work is still in existence. But an alternative group of artists began to question the traditions of this system more than ten years ago. Wayne Barker was certainly one of them. Audacious, truculent, witty, highly critical and iconoclastic, the works he produced and the alternative venues that he found and encouraged artists to use, posed a genuine alternative to the existing system. Most artists felt more comfortable in the somewhat confined area of only making art works. The possibility of an artist challenging the domain of museum curator and orchestrating contentious exhibitions with work from different and sometimes jumbled perspectives was initiated and encouraged by Barker. Though much of the work was not purchased that was by no means an indication of the quality of the shows. The South African art public had generally been used to logical and sequential exhibitions which dealt with single themes and comprehensible parameters. For artists to curate cutting-edge exhibitions without the experience and qualifications of seasoned museologists was both foreign and risque. This was one important contribution that should not be underestimated when summing up this artist's creative output. It requires as much ingenuity as the making of an artwork itself.

Superficially, Barker's work often possesses a cavalier quality and his personality appears to be that of a cultural cowboy reminiscent of the young Robert Rauschenburg of the mid 1950s in North America. The cultivating of a persona also seems for some artists to be an inextricable part of the making process. One has only to consider the cultivated egos of two titans of the twentieth century, Duchamp and Warhol, to recognise this trend. Underlying this outer appearance, Barker is an extremely serious artist, whose concerns deal with the human condition, a condition far more about tragedy than comedy, and of loss, confrontation, vulnerability and the insecurities of change. Dealing with these potent issues is not foreign to many South African writers, playwrites, and movie makers, but to be an artist there is the language of materiality with which one has to contend. In all Barker's works, whether they are paintings, installations, assemblages or objects, there remains an underlying aesthetic, which is the understanding of how to "put things together" and how to incorporate "stuff," in a way that only experienced artists succeed in doing. The materials he uses may not necessarily be traditional (after a century of using found objects nothing can really be regarded as sacred), but the manner in which he allows objects and surfaces to coexist, and how new meaning is invented and evoked, is part of his unique visual alphabet and narrative. I have selected three of the many works that he has produced.

Pierneef Series

The first work initially appeared to be a fairly weak facsimile of a typical Pierneef painted on a mass-produced template displaying various anti-personel mines produced by the previous government for a public-awareness campaign. On closer scrutiny the message was apparent. It was visionary and loaded with a plethora of socio-political and cultural inversions. At that time only a committed and courageous artist would have attempted such accusations. This small, quiet work acted for me as a cultural sledge-hammer. The fact that this work hangs in the South African National Gallery reflects the knife edge which both this state institution and the artist walked. This work is devoid of malice, which I believe applies to all his work, but is imbued rather with a message of the tragedy of a dying culture and the agony of an unknown new one to be born.

Slave Bodies

The second work was "Lulu the Zulu". This is a painting of such salacious and unacceptable adolescent naughtiness that it offends almost everyone. The feminists, the purists, the academics, the cultural mind police, the museum curators and the Kitsch lovers were all highly displeased by this work. It nevertheless, talks of altered sensitivities, exploitation and reversals of value which South Africans had, still have and probably will continue to have to some degree in the future. As the past constructs the present, so too does contemporary art which, if worth its salt, reflects identity changes, the rethinking on gender, political neglect and assumed cultural values. Barker's work uncomfortably reminds us that few people live truly independently and that individuals are continually being moulded by ongoing propaganda, social conditioning and nowadays spin doctors.

Coke Adds Life

The third work, exhibited in 1994, entitled " Coke Adds Life" is a ghoulish installation dealing with the awful irony of the cheapness of consumerism and the cheapness of life during the civil war in Mozambique in the 1980s. The glamourising of a multinational carbonated sugar beverage in preference to subsistence food is reminiscent of Marie Antoinette's absurd statement revisited in Africa two centuries later. The installation, adorned by contemporary advertising lights, AK 47's, traditional religious icons and a Tonga maize-grinding vessel are chilling reminders of the clash between past and present, "Blood" and "Hope," impassive multinationalism, and ancient rituals in the chaos of present day Africa.

Much of Barker's works reflects the complexity and diverse values of many cultures in one country. It is this complexity, the multi dimension of different worlds with different voices which he manages to sew into his works. The creative space he has forged appears to have been germinated in his challenging and questioning of established structures from an early age. The journey does not make for easy living but also does not suffer from the taboo of talking about "the other." Nor is his work regurgitated iconology.

During the South Africa of the 1980s, the cultural boycott had some positive effects on the creative output of many artists in the country. As the groundswell of social and political resistance increased, so too arose a questioning of rigid cultural authority and fearsome political repression. Out of this crucible, Barker's career began. Inevitably this cultural isolation could not sustain itself and the need for artists to experience and exhibit abroad has been enriching for both them and for this country's art. To become part of the world there are certain systems which the art world requires. I refer to the quality of publications and the proliferation of the written word which automatically internationalises the art. South Africa has, in my opinion, several artists of unquestionable merit who have the ability to take their place on the international exhibition arena. At present there is a shrinking support for all the arts which is a matter of grave concern and in the end it will be left to the ingenuity of the individual to survive both in this country and abroad.

I have willingly contributed to this publication because I believe this artist has a proven track record which warrants the kind of exposure that he deserves. South Africa has ever been a boring country and the unique and often traumatised dynamism which acts as a catalyst to unleash the creative energy of certain makers is missing in secure environments. So much of first world art has had the visual and conceptual corners sanded off it. Although some of Barker's works could well do with editing, his energy and iconoclasm has produced art which at best is raw, maverick, beautiful, tragic and humorous. The all South African boy he is not, a good artist he undoubtedly is.

Alan Crump