The Artists

1. The Artists

2. Jane Alexander Jane Alexander was born in Johannesburg in 1959 and currently lives and works as a freelance artist and teacher in Cape Town. Among her many accolades, Alexander won the Standard Bank Young Artist Award in 1995 and the FNB Vita Art Now Award in 1996. Her work has received much critical attention, both locally and internationally and her art often features mysterious hybrid beings – human bodies with animal heads – which various art critics have interpreted as being an exploration of post-apartheid South Africa’s troubled and multicultural society.

3. Walter Oltmann Born in 1960 in Rustenburg, Walter Oltmann currently lives in Johannesburg, where he is a lecturer in the Department of Fine Art at Wits University. Oltmann often uses wire, metal and inexpensive materials to create large-scale, labour-intensive works of art. He draws his inspiration primarily from the natural world (plants, animals and insects especially) and traditional South African art and craft. Oltmann was the recipient of the 1990 Standard Bank National Drawing Prize and the 2001 Standard Bank Young Artist Award.

4. Nontsikelelo Veleko Born in 1977 in Bodibe in the North West Province, Nontsikelelo Veleko currently lives and works in Johannesburg. Her bold photographic portraits of South African street fashion have received much critical acclaim and she has quickly gained a reputation as one of South Africa’s leading young artists. Among her many achievements, Veleko featured as part of the 2006 group exhibition of contemporary African photography – ‘Snap Judgements’ – at the ICP in New York, and in 2008 was awarded the Standard Bank Young Artist Award.

5. Dominic Thorburn Dominic Thorburn was born in Cape Town and obtained his Masters of Fine Arts at Rhodes University, before going on to study at the Tamarins Institute, University of New Mexico. He is now Associate Professor and Head of the Graphic Art Section at Rhodes University. Thorburn’s work has been exhibited both nationally and internationally, and forms part of numerous collections, including the University of New Mexico Collection. Thorburn is primarily interested in aspects of printmaking, and was co-convenor of the 3rd Impact International Printmaking Conference held in South Africa in 2003. He also initiated the Fine Line Press at Rhodes University, which is currently the only institution-based printmaking press and research unit in South Africa.

6. Brent Meistre Brent Meistre obtained his Masters of Fine Arts at Rhodes University, went on to work as a photographic tutor at the BACES Education College in London and is currently a Senior Lecturer in Rhodes University’s Fine Art Department. Meistre was the winner of the first Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Museum’s Biennale Award in 2006 and a finalist in the Daimler Chrysler Award for Contemporary Photography in 2004. His multi-media work includes photography, stop-frame animation, video and sound design and powerfully explores history, memory, narrative and meaning.

7. Dina Belluigi Dina Belluigi studied Fine Arts at Rhodes University, where she obtained a Masters degree and went on to lecture. She has exhibited widely in South Africa, and has been involved in a number of community outreach programmes – including print-making and photogram workshops in Eastern Cape Schools. Among her many exhibitions, her solo show ‘mneme’ was featured at the 2001 National Arts Festival and consisted of paintings, projections, drawings, photographs and a video piece which explored the representation of memory in the family snapshot

8. Zach Taljaard Zach Taljaard’s work focuses largely on the complexity of masculine identity, and he has received much critical attention for his unusual and innovative installations. His exhibition ‘CON/FRONT’ at the 2006 National Arts Festival featured three works / installations – Ghost Images, The Kiss and The Match – which successfully merged classical ancient Greek sculpture with contemporary pop art to create a vivid exploration of the ways in which masculinity has been portrayed through history.

9. Patrick Rorke Born in 1953 in Lesotho, Patrick Rorke currently lives and works as a full-time artist in Johannesburg. Rorke has exhibited both nationally and internationally, and works with a variety of media – including paint, sculpture, ceramics and mosaic. He was commissioned by the Constitutional Court to produce a number of engraved copper panels which form part of the building, and he has produced several public installations, murals and mosaics in malls, restaurants and stations in Johannesburg. His current exhibition “Park Station to Paris” features drawings and paintings inspired by South African and European travels.

10. Maureen de Jager Maureen de Jager has exhibited both locally and internationally. She has held three solo exhibitions at the Grahamstown National Arts Festival, including ‘In Sepia’, which was part of the 2008 Main Festival Programme. Working across media, she often utilises materials and/or found objects which have rich metaphorical associations in regards to her thematic interests in trauma, memory and melancholic loss. These include steel and rust, which she uses to invoke the deterioration of memory over time.

11. Karl Schoemaker Karl Schoemaker obtained his Bachelor of Fine Arts from Rhodes University in 1989 and currently lives and works as a photographer and designer in Port Elizabeth. He recently exhibited with WalkerDigitalat the National Arts Festival.

12. William Dieudonné Chalmers William Dieudonné Chalmers is a self-taught artist from Bathurst who has exhibited in both solo and group exhibitions nationwide. His work is currently on display at the Gallery Dieudonne in Bathurst, Old Joe's Kaia in Schoemanskloof and Cuyler Street Gallery in Port Elizabeth. Chalmers works primarily with bronze, oil, pastel and pencil.