William Kentridge: Pain Sympathy, Art21 Exclusive

Episode, 100: With his video History of the Main Complaint (1996) serving as a backdrop, William Kentridge discusses how artists draw upon tragedy as subject matter for their work and how drawing itself can be a compassionate act. Having witnessed firsthand one of the twentieth centurys most contentious strugglesthe dissolution of apartheidWilliam Kentridge brings the ambiguity and subtlety of personal experience to public subjects most often framed in narrowly defined terms. Using film, drawing