Being arty saved this little piggie’s bacon
SHE was destined to be the filling on a sandwich‚ but instead she is bringing home the bacon thanks to her painting prowess.
Pigcasso‚ a 10-month-old rescue pig‚ has earned nearly R400 000 for her owner Joanne Lefson‚ who runs the Franschhoek Farm Sanctuary – an organisation that rescues farm animals and draws attention to those raised on factory farms.
The painting pig’s abstracts have been sold to collectors in Germany‚ South Korea‚ Malaysia‚ New York and Australia.
Now Pigcasso has stepped up her game with a debut exhibition appropriately named OINK at the V&A Waterfront‚ which opened on Friday‚ with the porker on the pink carpet.
The exhibition will move to London‚ Paris‚ Berlin and Amsterdam.
Guest of honour was Mahatma Gandhi’s great-granddaughter‚ Professor Uma Mesthrie, a patron of the sanctuary.
“Pigcasso released her first artworks a year ago and many people were asking when and if there would be an exhibition,” Lefson said. “At half a ton of talent‚ it was clearly time that the heavyweight abstract expressionist of the world have her own exhibition – and there’s no better place than to have it in Cape Town at the V& A Waterfront.”
The signature collection of 30 original paintings – valued at R750 000 – are on exhibit.
The theme is the state of the environment.
Pigcasso’s first work, an abstract acrylic on canvas, was sold for R24 000 to a couple in Wales last year.
“By rights she was destined to be the filling on a sandwich,” Lefson said.
“But Pigcasso showed talent from the outset when she picked up a paintbrush instead of a ball.”
Pigcasso is described as an abstract expressionist.
“She will paint in the early morning and the evenings but prefers to sleep in between,” Lefson said.
After a draining creative session‚ the pig naps for up to eight hours.
Mesthrie said at the opening that the appreciation of art is a subjective exercise and “the wonder is that each viewer will see something of their own”.