My Italian Link - Issue #09 My Italian Link Issue #09 | Page 56

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ARTIST
Who were some of the South African artists who influenced Villa’s work?
After his prison term at Zonderwater camp, Villa joined the Polly Street
Art Centre; an art production space that was established in 1952. At Polly
Street, Villa experienced significant cultural and artistic influence from
artists such as Sydney Khumalo, Ezrom Legae and Cecil Skotnes,
amongst others.
How did South Africa’s urban landscape influence Villa’s sculptures?
The constant active and abstract socio-political landscape in South Africa be-
came a significant area of discourse that regularly acted as Villa’s subject
matter. A good example is his artwork titled Confrontation, made in 1978, which
depicts the protest marches that took place during the Apartheid years.
As the director of the Villa Museum, you are constantly engaging with
Villa’s art. In your opinion, what is his most important piece of work?
The Mapogga Woman from 1964 is a work that attests to the fact that
Villa engaged in a social and cultural exchange with the African people,
which is evident in the work’s African cubist form.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
Where to see Villa’s work in South Africa:
• Edoardo Villa Museum, Pretoria
• Norval Foundation, Cape Town
• Iziko National Gallery, Cape Town
1
Undoubtedly, Edoardo Villa left his
mark on South Africa, both literally
and figuratively. In Johannesburg in particular, no other artist is so well
represented in terms of public art. My Italian Link spoke to Daniel Mosa-
ko, the director of the Edoardo Villa Museum at the University of Pretoria,
to find out more about Villa’s artistic legacy in South Africa:
During his two years of mandatory military service, Villa requested to
be stationed in Rome so that he could observe the many public sculp-
tures in the capital. Did Italy’s tradition of public sculpture influence
Villa’s career?
I would definitely say Villa understood the importance of public sculp-
ture, as well as the artistic and social inferences made by such land-
mark artworks. His South African art commissions in the public domain
are elementary centrepieces with similar sculptural meanings to those
in Rome. However, Villa’s works are abstract in form, as opposed to the
realistic ones seen in Rome.
During WWII, Villa was held at the Zonderwater POW camp near Preto-
ria. How did his experiences in the camp influence his style?
It is an undeniable truth that no prison provides a pleasant lifestyle. As a
result, the typical artworks that Villa produced during his captivity were
somber, and reflected the sad prison mood. A good example is his work
titled Embrace, from 1943. The work depicts multiple hands striving
upwards to reach for help.
Villa made a truly remarkable amount of work during his lifetime. What
inspired him to make art well into his old age?
He was a committed and disciplined full-time artist who treated his
creative output with deep sincerity. He referenced his immediate environ-
ment in his depictions – firstly as an Italian-born individual, and then as a
POW in Egypt and later in South Africa, and ultimately as a free individual
in the politically abstract and constantly changing South African so-
cio-political landscape.
3
2
1 - Confrontation (Maquette), 1978. Steel, 166 cm.
2 - Figure with drapery, 1953. Bronze, 164 cm.
3 - Figure 1, 1970. Bronze, 77 cm.
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