Conceptually this exhibition at ErdmannContemporary is a development from Shibase's previous pre-occupation with the idea of dictatorship and self serving leadership.

These are both problems which have plagued Africa and many other parts of the developing world since independence. In that series he looked at various political, economic and social issues concerning Africa with the view to unpack some of the underlying reasons behind the slow pace of development in this continent.

In the current body of work he has gone further than critiquing leadership and institutions which are often responsible for failing the people they represent. He is now interested in the link between masculinity, power and violence which, in addition to other things, seem to all together make up the recipe for an oppressive and violent society.

In this context oppression and violence are not only viewed from the context of state politics but instead, from a societal view in which these two things (oppression and violence) occur in the private, public, corporate, and other domains.

In essence, the assumption from which this questioning body of work is premised is that there is a direct link between masculinity, patriarchy, power, oppression and violence. Through paint and the process of painting he has attempted to reveal such links.

Themba Shibase's Paint, Masculinity, Power & Violence opens at The Photographers Gallery za & ErdmannContemporary, 63 Shortmarket St, Cape Town, on 27 February and closes 23 March 2013.