Getting the gap - SOLD
Richard Mudariki (b 1985)
Getting the gap - 2015
Acrylic on canvas
80 x 70 cm
Signed and dated bottom right
Sold - 2016
On the Cape Flats near Cape Town, some Cape Coloured men
and women intentionally remove their top front teeth for aesthetic
reasons, as a fashion statement or as an indication of their social
status. They believe that this modification, commonly known as the
passion gap or ‘the Cape smile’, improves kissing and oral sex.
While most may find this practice odd, human body modifications,
dental or otherwise, have been practised for centuries in Africa and
throughout the world. People from different cultural backgrounds
have historically modified their bodies in all sorts of ways for various
reasons. With the blending of cultures in contemporary society,
similar means have been incorporated to identify with particular
groups and persona’s through applications and treatments such as
tattoos, piercings, gold teeth, skin bleaching, breast enlargements,
Botox treatments and even genital modification.