South African artist

A statement in human resistance

by Gwen Herat from Johannesburg

From darkness to light, conjuring visions without line and stroke but the palette comes alive from a haze of colour: bright vibrant daring and loud. It is the theme with all artists in South Africa; from Johannesburg to Pretoria, from Cape Town to Durban, Lusaka to Harare and so on.

The mixture between the old and the new forged turbulent zones, the environment made for the artists to spring from. People rummaged in these cities and the trees brought when the cities were made and the labourers who settled after the trees took root because of the richness of the soil under their feet, never perverted their dreams.

Today, it is these trees that give Johannesburg a bit of peace and landscape, the foremost inspiration to the crop of new painters who have risen from the trauma of the white rule. This huge city made of glitter and poverty, was once the place the wild animals roamed. These are the subjects that today's painters put on canvas in a haze that is only a memory now.

But the South African painters have dreams. They are artists with grit and determination to establish their own identity an art so different to the run-of-the-mill. However, they all think an artist is an imbecile who has nothing but eyes to paint, or ears if he is a musician or a lyre at every level of his heart if he is a poet.

What they think of Einstein or William Shakespeare or for that matter, Tchaikovsky, beats me. In the absence of these prestige, the painter has risen out of the dark clouds of South Africa. The modern painters give the best example to show how the artist evolved.

The strong participation and achievement of the South African artist is the embodiment found in world-acclaimed artist, David Koloane who was born into the thick of Alexandra Township which was a black ghetto of Johannesburg at that time. He was determined even as a child that the colour of his skin was not going to prevent from putting South Africa in the world market as a painter.

The market was not only for their diamonds from the deep ravine surfaced by the sweat of their bodies nor their rich mettle. The South African was also an artist; not just a slave in white captivity and he sent that message to all that mattered. He became the top most artist of the day.

His early works centred around township realism. They were the vivid scenes of activity, a philosophy of racism that made up the segregated world of the black South Africa. They must have been a very proud nation even in the face of discrimination, a fact I found for myself even today.

Later, Koloane took up to abstract painting, thematic and perspective behind certain motivation in realism. It was David Koloane who motivated the painter, shook him out of his shell, made way for him to follow and every bit of art work. I saw that others had the signature of Koloane. One cannot blame these young painters because it was only Koloane who was their inspiration.

From the darkness that was South Africa, emerged this shining star who made a great impact on the international galleries and art centres. He was responsible in exhibiting and promoting the work of the South African artist to attention of the world, from Boswana to Paris; Mosambique to London; Zimbabwe to the Netherlands; from Pretoria to Rome to name some.

His continued human dignities and understanding of human qualities as an outstanding painter, he headed hundreds of artistic organisations. As co director with Robert Loder of the Fordsburg Artists' Studio in Johannesburg, he became the leading force in the promotion of South African art. From Johannesburg to Pretoria, in all the arts centres, it was his works that dominated and as rightfully, it should be.

But in my long association with art, this was the first time that I had to look hard and long to get at what the artist tried to convey. The more I gazed the more complicated I became. Was it Africa art or was it David Koloane. I am sure I will never know the answer.

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