Provoke

A challenge to irritate, surprise, spark or needle the artist, curator, gallerist, art-lover, viewer and public at large. A group exhibition at AVA Cape Town. Considering events of 2006, when a baby was shot on her mother's back by gunmen attacking security guards, Janet Ranson produced a series of drawings investigating SA crime. The image of a mother, falling flat to the ground out of the line of fire - too late - seems too raw. How do we respond? Mixed media drawings ripple the shock wave outwards: gangster, victim, witness, citizens of a society where these things can happen.Who will deal with this? Perhaps a government ministry - the Dept of Rationalisation - can run courses for gangsters, victims and witnesses, to help improve the quality of crime.