Dumile Feni: Man drinking
Dumile Feni
Man drinking - 1967
Charcoal and conté on paper
240 x 102 cm
Available
Born Zwelidumile Geelboi Mgxaji Mslaba Feni, 21 May 1942 at Worcester, South Africa
Died 16 October 1991 at the age of 49, New York
In 1967 and 1968 Dumile completed a number of large scale charcoal drawings while staying with Bill and Fieke Ainslie at their Johannesburg home where he had a studio. ‘Man drinking’ dates from this period.
Ainslie, interviewed by Steven Sack in 1988, remarked that Dumile did his best work during the two years he stayed there. He also said that Dumile regularly binged outside of his work.
Dumile must have realized, however, that excessive drinking was detrimental to his productive output, and ‘Man drinking’, which ostensibly depicts a man on such a binge, could well be a self portrait. The left arm and hand of the drinking figure is drawn simultaneously releasing the bottle, as well as raised upwards, as if in supplication. The head of the figure, which is detailed and highlighted with white conte, is also raised upwards, not only to drink, but to reinforce the gesture of supplication. Three vessels, of varied size and design, convey the notion of excess. The dancing figure in the background is drawn as if intoxicated. Although the upper half of the torso is defined, the lower half is left unresolved with fine ghosted lines suggesting a seated posture.
Although this drawing is less finished than others produced in the corresponding period, it is typical of the large scale charcoal drawings that Kentridge would have seen when he attended evening art classes at the Ainslie home as a twelve-year-old. Kentridge has since acknowledged that seeing drawings such as ‘Man drinking’ made him realize the potential of charcoal used on a large scale as a powerful medium of expression.
Bruce Campbell-Smith
Illustrated:
Prince Mbusi Dube, Dumile Feni Retrospective: Johannesburg Art Gallery, Johannesburg, 2006, p 68
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