MEGA ARTIST
Issue no : 01
What does “ Visual Art ” mean to you ?
Hehe , anything man made and largely hand made , that can be seen / touched / displayed ( or utilised ).
Did you ever go to an ART school and would you say going to an ART school is a must for any ARTIST ?
After finishing school I did go to Wits Art School . I have a BA Fine Arts Honours from Wits , It is preferable to attend some kind of arts school / art training , even if not fully accredited or full-time , the artists ’ camaraderie , the opportunity to do group / shared works , to share ideas / themes / materials / crits etc , are all very useful and helpful . Getting into the ‘ art diques ’ of who ’ s who and what ’ s what can be very useful to one ’ s own artistic career , but many artists achieve greatness through being selftaught , so art school is not always essential .
Some of us , Artists , who grew up in the township , have never seen or came across a female visual artist till later years in life . What would you say are some of the challenges female artists meet along these artistic path ?
Hmm , this is are tough and many loaded questions to answer . Partly it ’ s the age-old expectation that ( black ) girls should be at home / make babies / do the domestic work / the planting , etc and look after the family and children ; some black women artists actually worked as domestics or were the children of domestics . Most people see the arts as frivolous / useless . not part of the general economy and thus girls , as well as boys , are often not encouraged to take this route . Musical arts are seen as a little better , because the potential for fame and celebrity is quite great . Many people seriously believe artists are crazy , which of course means they need to be respected or listened to or supported , In the western World women artists have also been downplayed ; few women ever achieving the immense success or fame of male artists , and this is not necessarily because their work is not as good , just that they are female . This century I think we may finally see women artists - including black women - achieve ‘ equality ’ with men artists , but there are still many rural / disadvantaged / underexposed parts of the world and Africa , where while they may acknowledge women as great crafters , will still not be quite so comfortable with / about women artists as they are with / about men artists .
Does South Africa have the right artists to take on the world ?
Yes , definitely . In all the arts , not only visual arts .
What would you say is the ‘ Achilles Heel ’ of visual art in South Africa ?
There could be a few . Lack of a buying audience and viewership ; and lack of show-spaces that are affordable and fair for artists . Traditionally it has been whites who have been the showers and buyers of art , the white population has shrunk over the past twenty years , while the populations of arts practitioners has grown , with a shrunken market , few artists find they can make a living from their art . Black people have to become appreciators and buyers of South African art products . The other problem is show spaces - few and far between and usually very expensive for artist ( galleries taking up to 50 % of selling prices ) - so few artists get to show their work regularly , or in many different galleries / venues , Perhaps the biggest Achilles Heel is the Department of Arts and Culture and the provincial departments , who seem over 20 years to not have achieved much in either expanding audience / buyership or creating more and easily accessible spaces where artists can regularly show their work at affordable / fair rates . Ofcourse , the new Achilles Hell may even be censorship - the new Minister has said that anything he thinks is ‘ derogatory ’ WILL NOT BE ACCEPTABLE .
We have seen a couple of your latest ARTWORKS and We must say , they look more “ Politically inclined ” and we being visual artists we sometimes ask ; What does it take to be a more ‘ Militant artist ’( no nonsense artist ) and how can Art in general help build our nation to be more conscious of their political , social or economical life ?
Hmm , I didn ’ t set out to be politically inclined , it turns out I just am that way ! Nkandla made me stand up and want to say something , so my source material became photos / stories etc . in the newspapers and it is impossible to avoid politics once one becomes embroiled in ‘ the news ’, I find myself , wanting to pass comment on all the incidences / characters and so I make them into collaged / mixed media artworks . I add my particular brand of humour / satire and the rest is up to the viewer . People squirm and giggle and say my works make them re-think what they thought , so I guess in a small way I am making some people more aware / conscious of our socio-politico life . I think one has to paint from one ’ s heart - if you fell it , then paint it , the ‘ it ’ may be nature , or still-life , or portraits , or fantasy or socio-politico-commentary , heheheh .
Are you not wary of the implications you might land in , due to the political artworks ?
Yes and No . So far a lot of people have said I ’ ve taken risks ; a lot of galleries have gently turned me down by pretending they are already too full ; a few admitted they did not want to potentially alienate government . The works reflect on true and offensive incidences / personalities in our real lives - the material comes-
www . megaartists . co . za August 2014 Page 20