Dead black man hangs off Zuma’s ‘spear’ in new artwork

Controversial artist Ayanda Mabulu is at it again at the Cape Town Art Fair.

And just when we thought he’d had enough of painting President Jacob Zuma’s genitals.

In his latest and possibly most complex artwork, the artist depicts a black man hanging by his neck off Zuma’s penis in a collage featuring numerous other images criticising South African society.

Detail of Blame it on the Boer with the penis blacked out.

The work is called “Blame it on the Boer”, which could be an attempt by Mabulu to mock Zuma’s tendency to blame all the failures of his administration on the “legacy of apartheid”.

The image of the president in the artwork is a clear homage to the controversial Spear painting by Brett Murray that once had the ANC chanting “Don’t buy City Press, don’t buy!” and marching to the Goodman Gallery in protest.

Also depicted are (among many other things) women carrying babies, a taxi rank, the Joburg CBD, a mine worker, a dead pig, and a barber. It’s not entirely clear what the artist is trying to depict overall, but it’s clearly a general reference to the struggles faced by black people.

Mabulu has in the past admitted a profound hatred for Zuma and uses the paintings of his exposed genitalia specifically because Zuma admitted years ago how much it pains him to be depicted in such a manner.

At the Cape Town Art Fair, interesting political piece as you walk in called "Blame it on the Boer" by Ayanda Mabulu #CTAF2017 #eNCA pic.twitter.com/rxMe8zx2l9

— Pheladi Sethusa (@pheladi_s) February 17, 2017

Another Zuma painting that caused a stir last year was when Mabulu took aim at the controversial relationship between Zuma and the wealthy Gupta family. In the painting, he portrayed Zuma and Atul Gupta as pilots who happen to be engaging in explicit sexual activity while still on a flight.

He depicted Zuma licking Atul’s behind in a painting many criticised as “pornographic” (note that we have blurred the more offensive bits).

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