Loving our gritty, rambling city of gold
JOHANNESBURG is not conventionally pretty. No snowcapped mountains. No beaches. We have pylons and traffic. We have grit and the sweep of roads. But the look in the eye of Themba Khumalo, 26, says it all, as does his immensely fine work.
“Dreams come true in Joburg,” says this Artist Proof Studio printmaker, who commutes from Orange Farm to Newtown to make his art.
Glynis Blomkamp, who curated an exhibition in which Khumalo’s work appears, says: “I was approached by the Westcliff Hotel, which has been sold, to advise them in redecorating with all things Joburg.”
Although this exhibition is not a part of that commission, the idea of looking at Joburg through art grew and My Jo’burg is the result.
For the dry-point etching technique to be convincing, a firm hand is required to scratch the image into the plate from which it is printed. The deeper the line, the more velvety it will appear on the paper.
The soft, smooth texture of Khumalo’s work makes you fall in love with pylons and traffic lights. “When I started out, printmaking was not an option for me — being in Johannesburg was. I am still intrigued by this city’s energy,” he says.
Another artist who has taken part in the exhibition is veteran David Koloane, who confronts the madness of Johannesburg traffic. Khumalo says of sharing a space with Koloane: “It is such an honour. He is my hero.”
Former schoolteacher Ross Passmoor, 28, who also has works in My Jo’burg , concurs: “We are exhibiting with the big dogs.”
He is reflecting not only on having his art in the same room as Koloane’s, but also on the presence of work by William Kentridge, Dominique Shabangu and Abe Mathabe. There are also three prints by the late Dumisani Mabaso.
Passmoor has Bag Factory credentials and rents a studio with Assemblage in Newtown.
A degree in ceramics in Pietermaritzburg led to a master’s degree in printmaking under Vulindlela Nyoni.
Passmoor’s background in ceramics gives his urban landscapes a rugged, three-dimensional feel. Clearly, he too is in love with the city.
“I was in a long-distance relationship with a Johannesburg woman,” he says. “The drive between Maritzburg and Johannesburg . . . is part of it.”
Two years ago, Passmoor moved to the “Big Smoke”.
Says Blomkamp, standing before unbelievably tiny drypoint etchings by Mathabe: “I’ve realised it’s OK to be beautiful.” These miniature works are so fine they make you weep.
Mathabe creates his etchings on the offcuts of plates that others have discarded.
Spiritually, there are fantastic links of implied noise between all the works on show.
Shabangu’s linocuts are unsubtle tonally, but they are no less satisfying on the eye.
As you look, you hear the traffic and feel the reach of the N3. As you look, you feed into the love that each of these artists manifests for this rambling city. It is contagious.