Fire Walker was conceptualised and designed by William Kentridge and Gerard Marx. William Kentridge is one of South Africa’s best-known contemporary artists with a major international profile, and Gerard Marx is one of the country’s foremost sculptors, stage designers and public artists.
Fire Walker was financed by the JDA and installation of the work was completed in 2009. Fire Walker is situated at a point of connection between the northern and southern sections of the city, bisected by the railway line that runs under Queen Elizabeth bridge, with the south side dominated by a major taxi rank, and the north side leading into an educational and business district.
Fire Walker stands at a height of 11.3 metres – the tallest public sculpture in Johannesburg. The work consists of approximately 20 black and white laser cut steel plates positioned at varying angles to one another. When viewed from a particular angle, the sculpture presents the silhouetted image of a woman carrying a burning brazier on her head. From other angles, the sculpture breaks up into a set of dynamic abstract shapes.
The figure of the woman with the brazier is emblematic of urban Johannesburg, and has a particular resonance in relation to the culture of the inner city. Informal street entrepreneurs sold roasted ‘mielies’ and also ‘smileys’ (roasted sheeps’ heads) to pedestrians, and were seen carrying braziers on their heads as they find places from which to sell their food. In this sense the work is a monument to the everyday, the overlooked, and to the entrepreneurial activities that had taken place in the area for many years.
The sculpture has been specifically designed to be viewed from multiple viewpoints, in transit or on foot. It is most striking when viewed at night.
Fire Walker was conceptualised and designed by William Kentridge and Gerard Marx. William Kentridge is one of South Africa’s best-known contemporary artists with a major international profile, and Gerard Marx is one of the country’s foremost sculptors, stage designers and public artists.
Fire Walker was financed by the JDA and installation of the work was completed in 2009. Fire Walker is situated at a point of connection between the northern and southern sections of the city, bisected by the railway line that runs under Queen Elizabeth bridge, with the south side dominated by a major taxi rank, and the north side leading into an educational and business district.
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