Jonathan (Jon) Berndt

b. 1950, Ladybrand, (then Orange) Free State, South Africa. d. 2010, Cape Town

Jon Berndt was one of the founders of the Poster Workshop at the Community Arts Project (later the CAP Media Project), a critical site for the production of resistance culture. He is best known for his political and educational graphics for CAP, the International Labour Research and Information Group (ILRIG), the Mayibuye Centre at the University of the Western Cape (UWC), and other organisations on the Left. Less well known is his early creative practice, which includes a body of student work influenced by the Arte Povera movement of the late 60s and early 70s. These works from 1973-74 include textual, land art and performance works which were radical for their time. Berndt’s last major project took the form of imagined public art works, where his acute political and graphic sensibilities are amply evident.