In 2014 the South African exhibition organisers Stevenson mounted an exhibition of Kannemeyer’s erotic work, and published a limited edition monograph featuring nearly a hundred of his works from the previous twenty years.
Here we share a selection of these ‘erotic’ works, drawn from Kannemeyer’s journals and sketchbooks, and the commercial work that he did for Loslyf, an Afrikaans version of Hustler, in the late 1990s. The iconoclastic assault in Kannemeyer’s work is often both erotic and confrontational towards the values surrounding sex and nudity in the ‘new’ South Africa. Even though these values have changed radically in recent years, Kannemeyer continues to use such imagery because it allows for raw conceptual debates about the country’s values and double standards. As in Kannemeyer’s Bitterkomix work, the target here is mostly the white Afrikaner male.
As not many of us understand Afrikaans, here are translations of the Loslyf cartoons:
Mnr H Viljoen is alweer orsoek na sy motorsleutels: ‘Geduld, hennie, geduld’.
Mr H Viljoen is looking for his car keys again: ‘Patience, darling, patience’.
Geniet Afrikannse mans politiek meer as seks? Ja! Ja! Ja!
Do Afrikaner men love politics more than sex? Yes! Yes! Yes!
Rook jy na seks? Ek weet nie – ek het nog nooit gekyk nie …
Do you smoke after sex? I don't know – I've never looked ...
Weer TV: ‘Vogtigheid en humiditeit kan more met ‘n vrouekont vanuit die suidweste verwag word …’
Weather TV: ‘Dampness and humidity can be expected tomorrow from a woman’s butt approaching from the south-west … ‘
Die wonder van menswees bruis opnuit hier in my op, hier op branderskuim, die byna verlate strand gebied, vry van die inmenging van modern plesiergeweld.
The wonder of being human is bubbling up in me anew, here with the surf on an almost deserted beach, free from the interference of the violence of modern pleasures.
Die waarheid is uit: mooi meisies kak gereeld.
The truth is out: pretty girls poop regularly.
‘Hey, Jacques, kyk hoe skyn die son uit haar gat uit!’ ‘Dit is fokkin ongelooflik, man! Kom one spiker haar poepol, vóór daai son sak!’
‘Hey, Jacques, look how the sun shines out of her ass!’ ‘It's fucking incredible, man! Let's nail that poophole before the sun goes down!’
Ê, lollipop!
Hey, lollipop!
‘Maar, dit … dit praat!!’ ‘Ek is nie deur die algemene stem van die volk tot kaptein verkies nie, maar het voldoende rede om te glo da tons liewe heer my die hoof van my medeburgers gemaak het.’
‘But, it ... it speaks!!’ ‘I was not elected to lead by the general vote of the people, but have sufficient reason to believe that your dear lord has made me the chief of my fellow citizens.’
Jan het ’n serious case van ‘O-die-poes’-komplex. ‘Hou stil, mammie!’ ‘Sjoe, jy’t darem ’n groot piel, my kind … ‘
Jan has a serious case of ‘Oh-the-pussy’ complex. ‘Shut up, woman!’ ‘Wow, you have a big dick, my child ...’
‘Uit die bloujob van onse hemel … ‘
‘From the blowjob of our dreams … ‘
Hardebaard: ‘Nes my voorouers, regie boere skeer met hul eie boerkom! (Hierdie advertensie is geborg deur die honderdjaar vryheidsoorlog – kommissie én die oudtsmoorn volstruisbiltong én potjiekosraad)
Hardbeard: ‘Just like my forebears, real farmers shave with their own homemade produce!’ (This advertisement was sponsored by the centenary of the war of independence – with commission, vintage ostrich biltong, and potty food)
