An icon of South African contemporary art, Willie Bester’s socially charged art has spoken to local and increasingly international audiences. His main concern is to record events in South Africa in visual terms. He does not make judgments or apportion blame. He simply comments on life as he knows it, and as such his art may be seen as a visual document of history in the making.

By adopting an archeological approach, by treating the township as an excavation site for bric-a-brac –license plates, coke cans, and the like – which together with other references, are collaged and overpainted, Bester breaks new ground.

Bester is for the most part a self-taught artist. Having spent one year studying with the Community Art...