Sandile Goje

Bitter, sweeter journey of South Africans

Artist’s Statement:

“We have all worked so hard to fight for what we believe is right for the people of South Africa, sometimes with no clear direction as to where we are going or taking this lovely country of ours. At times some of us have even managed to destroy the resources and ingredients of our soil doing this in the name of one spirit, one country, with out realising that they are in a process of destroying what they claim to protect, the country and its people. We have achieved so much in a relatively small space of time. We are the authors of our current and new history which is the preparation of our future activities to benefit future generations. The country and its people have been through thick and thin trying to establish and maintain what feels and seems right. We have and are continuously fighting with each other in different ways and forms but what makes us unique is the fact that we are not shy to deal with our mistakes and differences, sometimes. We have and are currently tasting sweet and sour results on a daily bases but I am sure we can all agree that we all have the same thought and desire, to move forward. It has always been the pillar of South Africa to work collectively as a team, sometimes we are quick to realise that democracy is about achieving what is right in the name of majority for the good and right reasons. We are a democratic country in the making, yes we may bump and kick each other on the field but we always find a way to comfort each other when the need arises.”
Artist’s Biography:

Sandile Goje works as a designer at Koch Ceramics in Grahamstown and has minimal time and severely limited facilities for artmaking. At Dakawa he was taught by Swedish printmakers Kristina Anselm and Malin Selman and by South Africans Eric Mbatha and Joel Sibisi. The work of Kristina Anselm remains among that most admired by Goje and he acknowledges her as an important influence in his work: both artists create an intricately and carefully textured surface. The Swedish printmaking influence is evident in Goje’s work which nevertheless remains inalienably African.

Joël Mpah Dooh

My Jozy

Artist’s Statement:

“This lino print was about the vibration of the city the fragility of the cohabitation…”

Artist’s Biography:

Joël is one of the finest artists on the African continent and enjoys international critical acclaim with his paintings and multi-media works. He lives and works in Douala, Cameroon, and studied fine arts in Amiens, France. He is currently a visiting artist at the Bag Factory in Fordsburg, JHB. His recent exhibition, Rendezvous, was a highlight of the 2006 Dakar Bienniale of African Contemporary Art in Senegal. He also participated in the Lines of Connections exhibition, organised by the MTN Art Foundation in 2001, alongside William Kentridge, Kendell Geers and Samuel Fosso. He has held solo and group exhibitions in Cameroon, Austria, Senegal, France, Cuba, Lebanon, Kenya and the United States. Joël is preoccupied with art and the experiment in art. ‘He is inspired by the tactile reality of his environment but is mostly an inner traveler. He works on paper, canvas, corrugated iron and most recently Perspex, mixing earth, colours, clay, packaging, wood and chalk inscriptions and scratching. Such material conjures a somber atmosphere. He explores the fragility of individual human identity and how it reinvents itself while moving and evolving in the city. He suggests that in the process, this delicate ‘self’ is taking control through conflict with society and the institutions and draws his own history and destiny in the light of other human connections and relationships.’ http://www.afronova.com/

Walter Oltmann

Coelacanth

Artist’s Statement:

“For Walter Oltmann, recipient of the 2001 Standard Bank Young Artist Award for Visual Art, the world of creatures (largely insects), African material culture usually associated with craft and objects of decorative domesticity provide an unending source of fascination. Working in wire and other industrial metal products, he is something of a virtuoso when it comes to working with lo-tech, inexpensive materials and performing artistic alchemy. Like other Natal artists of his generation (Andries Botha, Peter Schütz and some early works by Jeremy Wafer), his ethos owes much to the art and craft history of the province. His initial objects of reference are translated into often monstrous versions of the originals - monstrous in terms of scale, but ultimately unquestionably aesthetic. The labour-intensiveness of his working process provokes admiration and wonder leading viewers to examine the known world in another light. The process of making preoccupies him, as it has done for 20 years.” By Katherine Smith for Artthrob

Artist’s Biography:

Walter Oltmann was born in Rustenburg, South Africa, in 1960. Presently, he holds the position of Senior Lecturer, Department of Fine Arts, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, and lives and works in Johannesburg.

Colbert Mashile

Mma waka Montedi

Artist’s Statement:

“The title of this work comes from an African poem. It means the great unconditional love of a mother. It is about the image of a mother as a care giver. For me, it relates to the pain of so many mothers who have lost their children through Aids and their inconsolable grief that we can all but imagine.”

Artist’s Biography:

Colbert Mashile was born in Bushbuckridge, Mpumalanga Province, South Africa. After his schooling, his intention was to build a career in Public Administration. Fortunately, during his studies in Pretoria, he developed a healthy fascination with art. This led him to abandon a dreary future in administration and find refuge at the Johannesburg Art Foundation. His creations have attracted attention ever since - and will continue to do so.

Elza Botha

In memoriam Ingwavuma van die Timbavati vir Credo Vusamazulu Mutwa, Maria Khosa en Linda Tucker

Artist’s Statement:

“_In memoriam Ingwavuma van die Timbavati_ is a plea to cease killing animals for trophies. Ingwavuma, a white lion freely roamed the bush of the Timavati until the fateful day he was shot by a trophy hunter. According to sanusis the white lion represents the world and taking such life will ultimately end in universal destruction. Ingwavuma’s history is recorded by Linda Tucker in Mystery of White Lions – Children of the Sun God. Dip-meester van der Walt word ingesluk is a tribute to the anonymous Rorke’s Drift weaver who documented the deliverance of a rural community that had been harassed by the hungry man-eater lion and malicious whipping of a dip-master.

Artist’s Biography:

Elza Botha lives in Johannesburg since 1966. She was born at Mokopane , Limpopo Province on 29 July 1938.

Phillemon Hlungwani

Xilo xi n’wana ni n’wana xi ni nkoka eka nw’winyi wa xona (‘Everything the owner has is very worthy and important, no matter what’)

Artist’s Statement:

“When I was about five or six I did a drawing on the ground ,My mother went and covered the drawing with a dish to protect it from the rain and other elements, so later I could go back and finish my drawing.’ His art may well have progressed from the humble doodles scratches in the earth but his motive remains the same. His work is predominantly self-expressive in light of his background and his Christian beliefs. Trees are a place for prayer/ healing process and worshipping and Phillemon feels a strong spiritual connection towards them. For this reason we see trees continuously represented in his prints.”

His landscape images refer to self, family and history, functioning as a type of documentation of his background. Phillemon’s preferred printmaking technique is intaglio dry-point etching, linocut, charcoal on paper to explore new ideas around his culture and the journeys of everyday life. He finds this practice more expressive than other techniques; allowing him to work freely and texturally with line. In addition to being a print make.

Artist’s Biography:

Phillemon Hlungwani was born in Thomo Village, Giyani in Limpopo Province. He attended Thomo primary school and Hanyani Thomo High School where he was under the guidance of his art teacher, motivator and friend Muxe Moses Mthombeni. Phillemon obtained first class in Art in Matric .Mthombeni was one of art teachers who encouraged Phillemon in basics foundation in art at high school level, then after completing High school he went to the Johannesburg Art Foundation to study Fine Art course. He went to Artist Proof Studio to study printmaking under the mentorship of Kim Berman and the late Nhlahla Xaba and Osiah Masukameng, where he is still based today as coordinator for community outreach/ special projects for Artist in school programmes i.e. NOAH’S Arks, Man as Partners xenophobia mural. In addition to pursuing his career as a successful professional artist, Phillemon is an art advisor mentoring young up coming artist.
He then went to the WITS School of Art to study a teachers training course in art. Phillemon was involved in facilitating professional classes at the Artist Proof Studio and Unit manages for papermaking. He has been involved in numerous courses with EDL, CIDA Campus for computer skills and VACA. Phillemon Hlungwani revealed his passionate ability in working with charcoal on paper to explore new ideas around his culture and the journeys of everyday life. On his extensive study tour of printmaking studios in the United States sponsored by the prestigious Ampersand Foundation Fellowship. Early this year the TopBilling magazine as well as a Top Billing TV Programme profiled him to demonstrate the power of prayer as an artform and he is representing the spiritual side of life, his charcoal drawings and dry-point etchings images are often filled with majestic trees. Phillemon attributes the start of his career to the support given to him by his mother.

Dikgwele Paul Molete

Cross Pigeons

Artist’s Statement:

“The title of the work was inspired by the month of Easter and a flock of pigeons. One morning, I saw a flock of pigeons in my yard. These pigeons came to my yard three times in one day and I found it very strange. That’s how the work came about.”

Motsamai Thabane

Daddy’s Little Angel

Artist’s Statement:

“Daddy’s Angel” is an artwork which has been motivated by the mutual love that exists between a daughter and a father. The father is really supportive and upholds the fatherhood qualities towards his daughter during the tiring bad stigma of abuse against woman and children. In this case, regardless of the high rate of fathers raping their own children and being abusive to their wives, Motsamai Thabane is trying to show that not all fathers are abusive because on this piece of artwork there is a depiction of a daughter holding her fathers hand and expression of a special care and trust towards him. He is also bringing the role of a guardianship between a daughter and a father.

Artist’s Biography:

Motsamai Thabane was born in 1981, in the Vaal Region of Sebokeng. He attended art classes at Amzwaskho Theater Productions from 1996 to 1998 in Sebokeng as a teenager. He studied Fine Art and Design at Vanderbijlpark College where he was initially introduced to printmaking. He then furthered his studies in printmaking from 2004 to 2006 at Artist Proof Studio, whilst completing the Teacher Training Course at the University of Johannesburg. After graduating his three year diploma course in printmaking he was successfully trained as a print technician in the APS Pro-Print Studio, where he is currently working.
He has worked collaboratively with various upcoming and established artists at Artist Proof Studio such as William Kentridge, Joël Mpah Dooh, and Paul Molete. He has facilitated Printmaking Workshops locally and internationally.
His artistic abilities revolves around the social issues that affects the current lives of the people and he is seen as a social commentator who tackle issues through his artworks thereby bringing into the public an awareness of hidden moralities.