Muzi Donga (SA Artist) Pastels and Acrylic wash, 560 x 380mm, Unfraimed

Fact File

Muzi grew up in Soweto from its early dirt street and tin shack days. Being an artist during the 1970’s in Soweto was not the easiest career that a blackman could choose for himself. From his early days, Muzi knew that he had a special talent. He had a need to paint. When we analyze Muzis art, we become acutely aware of this talent. Not only has he mastered the very difficult media of watercolor, but his genius stretches into oil and acrylics. Apart from having mastered the technical applications of the various media, Muzi works in the abstract as well as the semi-realism genres. The abstract art that Muzi creates is his personal medium and style of choice. These abstract images immediately captures ones eye. One glance however, will not satisfy the inquiry launched by the subconscious. The images contain symbols, colors and shapes that originate directly from the “unseen color pallet” of abstract symbols and languages only understood by the artist. Muzi has found the secret blend of African and European influences. He communicates with his viewer on a very personal level. His philosophy “All things no matter how abstract they seem, can come together and blend to create a strikingly beautiful composition, both in nature and on canvas.” Muzi lived through the creation of the apartheid based government and saw the riots that took place in Soweto where children came into revolt for not having the right to be educated in their own mother tong language. He experienced the emotions of the black nation when security police in Rivonia arrested Nelson Mandela. He lived through the notorious “Dompas Law” that was passed by the government to control the movement of the black population in South Africa. When we examine his abstract paintings, we see the delicate mesh that has been woven with hundreds of different shapes. A rainbow of color all explodes in a composed in a balanced composition. When looking at these works they remind one of the precision clockwork that makes up a Swiss watch. Every small detail has painstakingly been fitted into the total composition of the painting, in order to make up the whole. One of the marks of a successful abstract painting is the fact that often one would hear an observer would remark “Give me a brush and some paint, and I to

can do that.” One has this feeling when you glance at some of Muzis compositions. This feeling however is short lived. The world of abstract art is one of the most difficult areas to work in with success, as the artist is not rendering either a realistic image of reality or an altered image thereof, he is creating a work of art that has never been seen before and only exists in his or her minds eye.