'Guard Dog' Painting

Diezel is a South African born ‘AfroPop’ artist who works from studios in Johannesburg South Africa and also Sydney Australia. Diezel’s work is strongly influenced by the social and political turmoil in Africa and it questions the effect of colonialism and westernisation on the African psyche. The Pop Artists of the Sixties, such as Jean- Michel Basquiat and Roy Lichtenstein are major influences and Diezel often incorporates scribbles and writing and pop art imagery to explore the tension between cultures and the pleasure and pain of existence in modern society. Almost all Diezel works are marked with plus signs - symbols of hope and optimism. Colours and drips symbolize ‘experiences’ and how it ‘clouds’ or influences the subject's view of the world. Diezel is a member of The Superstroke Art Movement that originated in Africa around 2005. The Movement focusses on African Culture, the continent's energy, the good, the bad, the bloodshed, corruption, oppression and pain, but also on its beauty, its optimism and hope. All Superstroke artist mark their works with plus signs (+)