Renowned as a South African creative hub, Grahamstown is sadly a difficult workplace for an artist. Although a number of practising local artists have repeatedly emphasised the support they receive from the community, this often comes in the form of intellectual or emotional, rather than financial, support.
Renowned as a South African creative hub, Grahamstown is sadly a difficult workplace for an artist. Although a number of practising local artists have repeatedly emphasised the support they receive from the community, this often comes in the form of intellectual or emotional, rather than financial, support.
Many therefore practise their art on the side or opt to exhibit outside of Grahamstown.
“It would be ridiculous for me to say that I would be able to make a living as an artist just in Grahamstown,” said artist Tanya Poole, a painting lecturer at Rhodes University. Poole will be exhibiting in Germany this year.
Peter Midlane has found life as an artist here to be more rewarding. “Grahamstown itself has been very good to me,” he says.
Midlane is a full-time artist, with his wife's teaching job supplementing the family's earnings.
Midlane works within the Realist mode, in both oil paint and etchings.
He notes that he used to receive a significant amount of commissions from farmers in the area who wanted pieces depicting their land, especially preceding a sale.
These have all but ceased, however.
Although most artists quickly point out that they have never wanted finances to be a dominant factor, it's nonetheless significant.
The economy has taken significant strain and so the market for art, a luxury purchase, has suffered alongside it.
Midlane’s more expensive pieces, some going for around R12 000, have therefore become harder to sell.
In order to combat this trend, many artists have branched into art forms that are easier to sell.
Fortunately for Midlane, his etchings are less expensive to make and sell (ranging from R800 to R1 500 as opposed to his paintings, which are priced between R4 000 and R22 000) and a number of prints can be reproduced and sold.
Selling point
Sales are an issue for all artists. Wildlife metalwork sculptor Bruce Little has begun producing a range of miniature pewter sculptures to supplement his bronzework sculptures.
Still feats of craftsmanship and infinitely more detailed than other pewter casters dare attempt, which is crucial to his vision and integrity as an artist, Little is still able to produce a relatively large number of pewter figures from each of the moulds he creates.
Despite the significant costs of setting up the equipment, in addition to purchasing the expensive metal and having it delivered from Johannesburg, Little hopes he will be able to make the pewter range into a successful business venture.
This will allow him to better support his family and fund his sculpture – which costs him thousands to cast in bronze.
In contrast to his bronze sculptures, which sell for up to R40 000, his pewter pieces, ranging from R250 to R800 (size-dependent) are far easier to sell.
Referring to her photographic pieces, artist and lecturer in Art History and Visual Culture Nomusa Makhubu estimates that a fair measure of the cost of each of her works is R2 000 to R3 000.
Sally Scott, who works with oil paint and tapestry, agrees that although her pieces generally sell well, sales aren't as frequent as she wishes in such difficult economic times.
It is her lecturing job that allows her to sustain herself.
“It would be difficult for an artist to be completely dependent on the Grahamstown public to support their art," she said.
"There are artists here who survive purely on the sale of their artworks – but they exhibit and sell beyond the confines of this valley."
Similarly, Makhubu’s pieces are seldom sold within Grahamstown and her sales are facilitated through a gallery in Cape Town.
International opportunities
Unreliable as the town may be as a major art market, many of these artists sell frequently to both national and international buyers.
Being relatively isolated in Grahamstown can make it difficult to market oneself as an artist and to secure viewings and sales.
“It's a great place to work, because one is left undisturbed. But it is not an easy place to sell or become known internationally, other than the exposure one gets from the Arts Festival,” said Scott.
Even if the artist is placed within good networks locally, they would need to establish themselves outside Grahamstown.
"You are only as good as your presence," said Midlane. "There is no artist nirvana. There is this idea that if you can get your art into Johannesburg or Cape Town that you will have a chance – but they have their own artists as well."
Although there are some opportunities for commissioned work within the town, most often from individual residents, not businesses or institutions, Scott does not think that there is an invested interest in fine art within Grahamstown, an unfortunate reality considering that it hosts the National Arts Festival.
“We don't have a gallery in this town, so if I have work that I want to show to the local market, I exhibit at The Workshop in Bathurst,” she said.
Makhubu noted, however, that there are many interesting places to exhibit in Grahamstown, including the Monument and Albany Museum complex.
She also said there is an invested interest in the arts – but that apart from what is offered by the university, resources are scarce.
Holding an exhibition is also expensive, be it in Grahamstown or Berlin.
The festival is obviously beneficial to Grahamstown artists, because of the spotlight it puts on the town and for its being an excellent platform for artists.
“It's the only real exposure we get in this province and a chance for our work to be seen by local residents and visitors who come from further afield,” said Scott.
This does not necessarily make for a buying market for artists, however: the audience is not made up of serious buyers, but rather people looking for the festival experience.
Difficulties aside, Grahamstown’s creative community remains undeterred.
Meet the artists
- Tanya Poole
Poole works in a variety of mediums: oil paint, animation, film and pencil.
Well-known and often commissioned for her portraits, she is working on an exhibition that is loosely based on her daughter, who is at an age of exploring her own expressive capabilities.
The exhibition focuses on the ways in which children are formed and influenced by their parents.
Although Poole has exhibited at the National Arts Festival in the past, she mainly exhibits overseas.
- Peter Midlane
A full-time artist who works in oil paint and etchings.
In a studio hung with scenes of rural life, painterly texture and earthy colour, he works in the Realist mode.
While his paintings explore the environments and colours he observes, his etchings explore line and tone and delve more into social complexities.
Midlane’s work is featured at the South African Print Gallery in Cape Town.
- Nomusa Makhubu
Works mostly in photographic formats, but strays into collage and new media forms such as video.
She takes photos intermittently, although she is not currently working on a particular project She explores identity, culture, land, rights, economy and religion in her work, which delve into South Africa’s stormy past.
In her Self Portrait Project series, Nomusa projected images of herself on to sensitive historical images, exploring self-representation and identity.
- Sally Scott
Works in chalk pastel. She loves this medium for its wonderful luminosity and versatility, which allows her to capture the atmosphere of the African landscape.
Sally also works with textiles and fibres. Her interest in African textiles has inspired much of her work in the medium of innovative quilt art.
She works daily towards her Festival exhibition, "Delta and Desert: Journeys into the Wilderness".
This work (chalk pastel mainly, but including a few fibre artworks), is inspired by recent trips to the Okavango and the Richtersveld.
- Bruce Little
Spent 20 years working as a game ranger.
His fascination and familiarity with animals is evident in his bronze sculptures, which bring the animal form to life.
In addition to his bronze work, which is sold and exhibited extensively overseas, Bruce has developed a range of intricately miniature pewter sculptures.
The process of creating and casting his pewter pieces is multi-faceted, complex and time-consuming. Ever the artist, Little is adamant about authentically detailing each piece.
