Strauss & co - 15 February 2020, Cape Town

82  DIANE VICTOR SOUTH AFRICAN 1964– The Lost Rider signed etching and mixed media on paper 188 by 124cm R100 000 – 150 000 “Over the years some criticism has been levelled at the perceived excesses of Diane Victor’s work where it seems that everything entering her head pours out again in her art without subtlety or restraint. This approbation stems from a Modernist aesthetic that is at odds with the postmodern inclusiveness of intertextual association. Victor’s tendency towards visual overstatement also betokens a forceful directness aimed at reviving society’s dormant conscience. This technique recalls the structure of Gothic or medieval imagery, and can be seen in the vignettes of scenes and events that unfold like comic book narratives, and in the wealth of symbolically loaded details and elements of the grotesque that permeate Victor’s work. Gothic art is not often associated with coyness or subtlety. Robert Gibbs explains that it is by nature didactic in the service of religious dogma, employing naturalism to promote Christian beliefs, and therefore tends towards overstatement. Victor’s work is similar in its forceful expression of the artist’s response – to the excesses of society.’’ 1 1. Karen von Veh (2004) “Gothic Vision: Violence, Religion and Catharsis in Diane Victor’s Drawings’’ . In: Elizabeth Rankin & Karen von Veh (2004) Diane Victor Taxi Book Series 013. Johannesburg: David Krut Publishing. Page 50. 99