Jane Alexander - Politics, racism, apartheid South Africa

The Butcher Boys, 1988-89, plaster

The “Butcher Boys” were created in the context of South Africa’s Apartheid history. The “Butcher Boys” are symbolic of how not speaking out against evil make us become evil. The figures don’t have spines (if you walk around the work you can see there are hollow groves where the spine should be). They don’t stand up for what is right – they are literally spineless. They are detached from what is going on around them – the oppression that took place during apartheid. They don’t have ear (only small holes in their heads). Their eyes are dark and cold. They mouths are shut and have become animal like snouts… because they do not speak out against what is wrong.



The sculptures are frightening to look at and elicit a sense of repulsion in the viewer. It forces the spectator to evaluate the change that took place in society; these forms used to be men but have been transformed into demons. Through this sculpture, Alexander not only portrays the regular use of violence in a masculinized regime but also the way the Apartheid regime changed and brutalized a whole section of society. While its impact on the general viewing public has not been measured, it serves as an addition to the growing archive of visual arts that is spreading in South Africa to confront its past.