Phemo Matlhabe

Phemo Matlhabe, from the North West province, is a partly self-taught artist who has previously exhibited works at the Klerksdorp Museum, Molly Art Gallery, and Alice Art. I am a realist Painter who is fascinated by portraiture and figures. My work utilises portraits as a metaphor to a variety of social issues that I believe should receive public attention. “Still waters run deep” as the idiom says, one can also say the deepest rivers flow with least sound. This idiom can be defined in many ways but with one particular meaning and has inspired me to use it as the tittle for a series of works. The first part of this series showcases the aesthetic of life, the sugar coated truth of modern day beauty, using tradition and culture as reference. Thus meaning the work will cover surface meaning and underlying meaning of tradition. His portraits have also been highlighted in the Old Mutual Business Magazine, he has recently produced a calendar for Brainstorm Magazine, and he created two portraits made out of old computer parts for the computer company Experience’ to create awareness about recycling. Phemo says that during his time at the Bag Factory he has learned so much: “being taken out of his comfort zone has helped him to break through an artistic threshold in a sense and I am thinking more than ever before”. About his two mentors, he adds “Bev [Butkow] and Pat [Mautloa] speak to the different sides of me. They are both such inspiring artists and people, and have been fantastic in helping me add a new definition to my work”.