Archives: Profiles

Rather than focusing on popular visual culture, as much artwork does today, Fourie’s artistic practice confronts the mundane. Though his work, which acts as a type of visual poetry, could be seen as mundane, visions and experiences of everyday life transcend into another space, a space in which everyday notions become beautiful, intriguing sights.

Musa Mtshali is a contemporary artist based in Durban and specializes in producing art in mixed media; painting, sculpting, installation and performance art.

Anna van der Ploeg is an interdisciplinary artist from South Africa, working primarily in paint, print, and wood. She is compelled by representational imagery for the qualities it shares with literature: an ability to be didactic, or to create a fiction in which to probe at the truth. Van der Ploeg has a sharp interest in language, as intimated in her titles, and writing often runs parallel to the making of her works. Titles sometimes precede, or prompt the actual artwork. Her practice is built on a foundation of intellectual curiosity and technical competence: she is vigorous in both making and thinking. Though the catalyst to her work is conceptual, her process is often labour-intensive and perceptive.

The art of drawing with pen and brush has become a major part of Taiwo Ohu Gbenga and the permanent linear method of image-making inspired him to illustrate a series of iconic architectural landmarks in South Africa. It could very well be argued that these buildings house stories, memories and histories like culture and heritages that resonate personally and collectively more so with the immediate society.

Kali van der Merwe's work merges boundaries between art, science, biology, astronomy and taxidermy. She does so by entering the realms of imagination and magic. She explores trajectories between real and fictional while traversing nuanced interconnections between death and life.

Zakhele Hlabisa was born in Mtubatuba North KwaZulu-Natal. He is Durban-based and is a natural realism and conceptual artist. He produces art mainly in drawing, painting, and prints.