Colour and self-expression in PromArt

Shahied Joseph|Published 1 year ago

Steady Chidawu with his collection of art telling stories of his time from Zimbabwe.

The Kunye Art Foundation put together the penultimate PromArt exhibition at the Sea Point promenade last Saturday, inviting local, upcoming artists to exhibit their work for free.

There were 22 artists exhibiting their work, which ranged in price from R800 for the cheapest painting to R2500 for the most expensive, with images in a variety of mediums from graphic designs to conventional oil painting on canvas.

“This was not the turnout we wanted as we invited quite a few more artists to come and exhibit. But we understand it’s a bit difficult for some artists to get here and to get home, especially those living on the outlying areas but we are happy with those that came through, there’s quite a few here for their first time,” said Ingrid Wallach, the managing director of Kunye Art Foundation.

Steady Chidawu, 39, and Stanley Zamala, 56, both made their first appearance at PromArt and were delighted to be part of the Kunye experience.

“With my art I try to tell my story, it’s about my hometown, about where I grew up in a village in Zimbabwe and that is what I want people to see, the challenges of growing up in a village. I use acrylics on canvas and I’m self taught with this method,” said Mr Chidawu.

“I just moved here recently from Zim so I am happy to be here, so it’s my first time exhibiting my work in South Africa,” said Mr Zamala.

Taahirah Luddy with a graphic design and a pour-out method artwork.

Taahirah Luddy, 23, from Pelican Heights, attended the exhibition for the second time and expresses herself with abstart art as well as graphic designing.

“I use acrylic paint and I do visual art, I’m a graphic designer and I enjoy doing collages and there’s no physical cutting and pasting, this is done on a computer,” said Ms Luddy.

Tanya De Bruyn and her works where she sometimes uses alcohol and ink to paint on watercolour paper and organza.

Tanya De Bruyn, 49, from Durbanville, says she users watercolour paper, watercolour paints, charcoal and alcohol for her paintings.

“I use a few drops of alcohol in some of the inks that I use and it creates an interesting visual. I use oil pastels as well and I play around with various techniques to create these pieces on watercolour paper and even organza,” said Ms De Bruyn.

This is the art of Shaunez Benting, capturing memories of District Six where his relatives once lived.

Stanley Zamala enjoys using bright colours to show off his art skills. This was his first exhibition in South Africa.