Norman Catherine is one of South Africa’s leading contemporary artists. This film is an exploration of Catherine’s self-confessed x-rated visions that meander and skulk in the convoluted labyrinths of a myriad of minds, usually all his own. Nothing is muted or subtle in Catherine’s work.
We take the viewer on a bizarre and extremely intimate journey into the mind and life of Catherine through the use of his pictures and interviews. Interviews include Jody Scheckter, Greg Marinovich, Professor Karel Nel, Linda Given and Johnny Clegg.
The fact that South Africa has changed has done little to soften his “dark side” but a mutation has occurred.
The raw expressions of fear and fury have been replaced by an awareness of inner city psychosis caused by escalating violence, the underworld of gangsterism, crime, and the spread of corporate corruption.
On the lighter side we touch on Catherine’s collaboration with artist Walter Batiss and the incredibly imaginative “Fook Island” project.
An experimental time in his early years and the wicked, truthful sense of humour that allows one to shudder while laughing.
