UNTITLED (Ubu diptych), 1997

UNTITLED (Ubu diptych) is a unique, diptych drawing created in preparation for William Kentridge’s participation in SITE SANTA FE’s second Biennial, TRUCE: Echoes of Art in an Age of Endless Conclusions, in 1997. Executed in ink, charcoal, and white chalk on paper, the figures are based on Alfred Jarry’s infamous despot character, Ubu.

Jarry’s wild and unruly play, Ubu Roi, was first performed in 1896, caused an uproar in Paris. Both baffling and offending audiences, the play helped shape the progress of avant-garde theater in the 20th century.

In 1997, Kentridge made the film, Ubu Tells the Truth, where Ubu does not appear as a character but is implied. The artist exhibited the film at SITE SANTA FE with wall drawings depicting Jarry’s antihero – a fat, ugly, vulgar, gluttonous, grandiose, dishonest, stupid, greedy, cruel, cowardly and evil buffoon. The character has provided a versatile figure for artists throughout the century to apply to local histories and personalities, offering a satirical and grotesque expression of how arbitrary power engenders madness.