Visual artist celebrates late mother's birthday
Nnasaretha Kgamanyane | Tuesday June 27, 2023 06:00
The event set up was breath taking and a number of visual art lovers came in numbers to witness the pair’s masterpieces. Most of the paintings revealed the beauty of women. Prince Tom also exhibited his childhood memory painting dubbed Memoirs of My Childhood that depicted boys playing with old car tyres.
One of the breath taking paintings on the display was that of an African woman with her Afro hair nicely styled and leteisi (German print) fabric that was attached to the painting. While some people enjoyed viewing the beautiful artworks, sipping on their beverages and enjoying the good RnB and Hip Hop beats, some feasted their eyes on the artists as they did body painting on some young women. Others took pictures with the artists. As art fanatics, many of those that attended the event dressed to make a statement.
'Ke Dinaledi Art Exhibition' was held in collaboration with Masa Protea Hotel and the RDC Property group. Price Tom explained that the exhibition was more of an experience of limited canvas paintings by the two artists, with each artist creating 10 masterpieces on canvas and body art. He further explained that initially, it was to be a solo exhibition but as time went on, he decided to feature his friend, Ronald. “This exhibition was scheduled for the month of June because my late mother’s birthday is on June 12 and by now everyone knows that my art and everything I do in the creative world, always has to do with my mother, as she was the one who introduced me to the creative world when I was about six-years-old," Prince Tom said.
He said his mother helped him win his first ever art accolades when he was 13-years-old. "But now she is no more in this physical world. I decided to do another exhibition which is an ode to her but now featuring someone who played a vital role in my art career, and that is Ronald,” he said.
Furthermore, he explained that together with Ronald, they have shared the same palette for eight years now adding that his friend welcomed him to the professional art world when he was fresh from high school and they have been painting together ever since. Prince Tom added that they held their first ever exhibition back in 2016 titled, ‘The Life of An Artist Exhibition’ and the other one in 2017 titled, ‘The Best In US’ to mention but a few. In addition, he stated that ‘Ke Dinaledi’ is a continuation of their journey from ‘The Life of An Artist’.
He added that the exhibition had to say more about how people view them and also what they aspire to be. He stated that every child aspired to be a star or at least to reach the heights of the stars. He also explained that the relationship he had with his mother was strong as she had always seen the star in him. She said her elder sister is called Naledi (star), hence the show ‘Ke Dinaledi’. “The only person who owns more Prince Tom art collection in the entire world is Naledi. I love the stars and go out every night to gaze at them. The stars really mean a lot to me and whenever I look in the mirror, I see a star. The dress code is ‘creative expression’ which gives everyone a chance to express themselves,” he said.