VUMELANI SIBEKO
BIO FOLLOWS IMAGES
LINOLEUM PRINTS 2015-16
click to enlarge images
HUNGRY BULLY 2015 27x21" |
TEARS OF A TRAITOR 2015 27x21" |
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NO WAY UP 28x19" 2015 |
BRAVE MEN OF MARIKANA 29x19.5" 2015 |
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TRAITORS ON THE LOOSE 2015 21x27.5" |
CUT ME LOOSE 2015 21x27.5"
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10% 2015 21x26"
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BIO
Vumelani Sibeko was born in Emndeni, Soweto in 1975. Until February 2010, he used the Buthelezi surname his father adopted from a family he boarded with after escaping life as a farm laborer in search of a better life in Johannesburg.
Sibeko studied art at the Vaal Triangle Technikon (Vaal University of Technology) between 1997 and 1999. Soon after his tertiary education, he briefly left the art scene in order to find work and support his family. He resurfaced as a first time exhibitor in 2005, when he began his relationship with the Mofolo Arts Centre in in Soweto. He has since exhibited in numerous other group exhibitions alongside Kenny Nkosi, Peter Tobias, Mbongeni Buthelezi, Dominique Shabangu and Senzo Shabangu.
At an early age, Sibeko recalls his mother support for his drawings on white paper - until he began drawing on his school clothes! He made a business with his art at an early age, making drawings for fellow classmates in his biology class. His early influences include Gerald Sekoto and George Pemba “These were the first Black artists I knew of,” says Sibeko.
Two years after finishing Metric, he went to the then called Vaal Triangle to study Fine Arts (1997). At the Technikon he became exposed to racial differences, He says that was more political than anything else. You were constantly reminded that you were black”
Sibeko believes that he has a duty as an artist to educate through his artwork. He has been involved in a number of community projects to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS and women’s abuse and he well known for his activism in these areas, which form part of his subject matter. He continually works with children from the Palm Springs community to paint walls around their neighborhood. He often gets assistance from students from Funda Centre in Soweto.
Vumelani is now well known for his "Where is the New Key" performance march to the African Burial Ground Memorial in Lower Manhattan on the day following Thanksgiving 2014. He will be reprising this performance in Dakar this Spring, with accompanying exhibitions of his paintings in local venues.
Sibeko is based in Johannesburg; The Drill Hall.
To view a selection of Sibeko's paintings click here |
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