William Kentridge: Fortuna

Lilian Tone
Thames & Hudson

“Fortuna” is a concept employed by the acclaimed South African artist William Kentridge to describe his creative process. It implies more than simple chance but less than a fully conceived plan: a kind of engineered luck.

Essays from Kentridge and other artists offer a more complete overview of his practice and contextualise it within the socio-political situation of South Africa in the latter part of the 20th century. These writings, alongside his charcoal drawings, films, installations, prints and sculptures, give the book a satisfying density and provide a fascinating glimpse of the artist in full flow. Kentridge is a common subject in his drawings and this self-referential element is intriguing and revealing in equal measure. The variety in the material included shows the artist’s love of contradiction and uncertainty.

A large-format book with over 2,000 beautiful illustrations, this is the most complete monograph yet published on William Kentridge and is a comprehensive observation of his dynamic, performative methodology and working practice.

Bryony Byrne