Acts of Resistance I shows a child in a defiant posture surrounded by imagery from both the colonizing influences and independent signs of southern Africa. A picture of strength and poise, this painting addresses notions of liberation across African history, and serves as a witness to the idiosyncratic ways in which independence unfolds across time. Meleko Mokgosi makes hyperrealistic paintings that examine ideas essential to human society, such as democracy and resistance. Although his large-scale works reference the compositions, formats, and techniques from the European oil painting tradition, the imagery he depicts comes from the daily life, culture, and history of southern Africa.