Frank De Painter To Release New Art Catalogue
Spira Tlhankane | Monday May 31, 2021 16:07
Unorthodox is a collection of 24 original paintings, which Frank De Painter has been conceptualizing since 2018.“I have been producing lot of works ever since my last exhibition in 2018, so the catalogue will be ready for downloading before end of August. I did not start working on it until April 4, 2020. I have been producing artworks for this collection since then. When I am working on a new catalogue I don’t set time when to complete it, because I do not like putting myself under unnecessary pressure. All great things take time to create,” the painter from Tlokweng village told Showtime in an interview. Frank De Painter whose real name is Frank Monageng was quick to indicate that even though he has created a few catalogues before, he believes that the soon to be completed unorthodox catalogue is one of his greatest works, because he was in a different space both spiritually and physically when he created it.
“I paint portraits because there is a saying in Setswana that ‘mafoko a matlhong’ which loosely translated means that facial expressions can reveal the true sense of a conversation. This catalogue will be followed by an art exhibition and the hard copies of this catalogue will be available at my exhibition which am still preparing for,” he further revealed.
Frank De Painter added that several paintings from this collection were inspired by a lot of happenings around the world, form public figures, history and culture to religion. “Art is my voice, my way of documenting my experiences, because as an artist you paint your story and no one can take that away from you. Uniqueness is very important in the arts as it will keep you in the game for a very long period of time. If you’re not telling your story, you are telling someone else‘s story. I choose to tell my story, because no one can tell it better than me,” he explained.
Frank De Painter further added that he had been inspired by a lot of great figures like Pablo Picasso who is The God Father of the modern art. “Picasso once said every child is born an artist; the problem is how to remain one once we grow up. So everyone has that sixth sense of creativity, their souls are hungry and it’s my job to feed that hunger through visual art,” he further highlighted. Furthermore, Frank De Painter said he incorporates a lot of things he had learnt from the late Nelson Mandela. “All this are key elements that drives me as a creative mind in coming up with a concept. A great man once said “never change a winning formula. I have found myself and I will never lose myself as an artist,” he concluded.