Conrad BO
My name is Conrad Bo (nom d'artiste.), and I am a contemporary conceptual artist based in Johannesburg South Africa. I am the founder and main contributor of the Superstroke Art Movement.
The Superstroke Art Movement was founded in 2008 after my previous concept in art, Generalism (Art for the sake of art) came to the end of it’s innovation cycle, and because of the impact that The Superflat Art Movement (Founded by the Japanese artist Takashi Murakami) have on innovation, in contemporary art.
Superstroke is short for “The Super Expressive Brush, Pen etc. stroke”, and for example, whereas The Cubism Art Movement mainly focused on Cubes (French art critic Louis Vauxcelles first used the term "cubism", or "bizarre cubiques", in 1908 after seeing a picture by Braque), The Superstroke Art Movement brush strokes, focuses on expressive even violent brush strokes. The primary artists influencing Superstroke are: Murakami, Picasso, Giacometti and Van Gogh. The secondary influences are: Richter, Celmins, Pei-Ming Boldini, Appel, Du Buffet, Miro, Papetti, Basquiat, Dumas, Kentridge, Auerbach, Jorn, etc.
Although The Superstroke Art Movement is quite a young art movement, it has become one of the very few art movements with it’s origin in Africa, that has become internationally known.
Just like the art, in The Superflat Art Movement are different to Pop Art, the art in The Superstroke Art Movement cannot is different to Neo Expressionism or Neo Impressionism, because of the subject matters within the art movements.
The Manifesto written for The Superstroke Art Movement in 2008 is as follows:
1. Paintings should be executed using expressive even violent brushstrokes on at least some part of the picture.
2. Should a photograph be used for a figurative painting, the objection should not be Photorealism, but Expressionism.
3. If mediums such as pen, pencil, etc are used, the pen and pencil strokes must at least be overly expressive for it to be considered a Superstroke picture.
4. Paintings can be executed in both the abstract and figurative.
5. Subject matters such as Africa, light, dark, life and death are encouraged.
6. Collage, Stencil and Calligraphy may be used for impact.
7. The concept, Art for the sake of art, does not apply in Superstroke. In Superstroke it is art for the sake of Superstroke, as the artist must always strive for paintings rich in texture, or excessive brush or pencil strokes.
The Manifesto for The Superflat Art Movement written by Takashi Murakami is follows:
The world of the future might be like Japan is today -- super flat.
Society, customs, art, culture: all are extremely two-dimensional. It is particularly apparent in the arts that this sensibility has been flowing steadily beneath the surface of Japanese history. Today, the sensibility is most present in Japanese games and anime, which have become powerful parts of world culture. One way to imagine super flatness is to think of the moment when, in creating a desktop graphic for your computer, you merge a number of distinct layers into one. Though it is not a terribly clear example, the feeling I get is a sense of reality that is very nearly a physical sensation. The reason that I have lined up both the high and the low of Japanese art in this book is to convey this feeling. I would like you, the reader, to experience the moment when the layers of Japanese culture, such as pop, erotic pop, otaku, and H.I.S.ism, fuse into one. [H.I.S. is a discount ticket agency in Japan. By lowering the price of travel abroad, the company is having a profound effect on the relationship between Japan and the West.]
I have included the information of The Superflat Art Movement here, because I strongly believe that if it was not for Takashi Murakami and The Superflat Art Movment, The Superstroke Art Movement would not exist in its current form or with its current name.
Conrad Bo
The Superstroke Art Movement
Tel: +2782 923 2261
conradbo@gmail.com
conradbo@vodamail.co.za
Conrad Bo
Artist Biography
1972
(Michiel Conrad Botha) Born in Pretoria, South Africa
Education
University of Johannesburg
1990-1995
Completes B.Com degree
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2010
“Superstroke, Underground African Modernism”, Penmore Towers, Johannesburg South Africa
2009
“Superstroke, Bits and Pieces”, Penmore Towers, Johannesburg South Africa
“Superstroke”, Penmore Towers, Johannesburg South Africa
2008
“America from my couch”, Penmore Towers, Johannesburg South Africa
“In and out of Africa, images of life and death”, Penmore Towers, Johannesburg South Africa
2007
“Cry my beloved Africa”, Penmore Towers, Johannesburg South Africa
2006
“Analytical Generalism (Landscape, Abstract, Figurative)”, Penmore Towers, Johannesburg South Africa
“Monochrome portraits”, Casciano Estate, Johannesburg South Africa
2005
“Analytical Generalism (Monochrome)”, Corner house, Johannesburg South Africa
2004
“Generalism, Architecturism, Television Impressionism”, Blue Gecko, Johannesburg South Africa
2003
“Generalism”, Corner house, Johannesburg South Africa
2002
“Still life, and landscape”, Cullinan Art Gallery, Cullinan, South Africa
1998
“Abstrak en figuratief”, Perth Street Art Gallery, Johannesburg South Africa
1996
“Afrika”, Perth Street Art Gallery, Johannesburg South Africa
1994
“Ongetiteld”, Solo Exhibition, Dorm room at University of Johannesburg
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