Manfred Zylla
born 1939, lives and works in Cape Town, South Africa and Munich, Germany
Zylla was born in Germany living as a child through the ravages of World War II and its aftermath. Resident in South Africa since 1970, he became prominent as an artist highly critical of apartheid in the 1980’s with a stream of drawings, prints and paintings. These works are widely acknowledged as critical for understanding resistance art, an important chapter in South African art history.
The era of resistance art drew to a close in 1994, when South Africa held its first democratic elections. Zylla has, however, continued to work within a paradigm of social critique, producing works about globalisation and the social and political circumstances, forces and ills at play in South Africa and the world at large. In this respect, he has made works about pollution, global warming and natural resources, capitalism, crime, drugs, refugees, alternative energy and transport and attitudes towards disability. Zylla’s paintings are dealing with issues, which affect all of us. They tell the plight of the world, and point to Zylla’s strong concern with the destiny of humanity, the future of the planet and most importantly art as a tool for change.
A retrospective of Zylla’s life work will travel to various museums throughout South Africa during 2012. The launch exhibition is scheduled to open on 22 February 2012 at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Art Museum in Port Elizabeth. The exhibition will include works from the late 1950’s to the present. A limited edition book on Zylla’s life work, entitled Manfred Zylla - art & resistance will be launched that evening.