Current Artists

Artist Statement

Landscape as a theme has always been on my ‘bucket list’ to explore, especially given my background growing up in the mountains of Namibia as the son of land-owning parents. I have, over the years, sporadically worked with this theme, but never as consistent and explicit as in this ‘After De Jongh’ series.

“I view Tinus de Jongh’s work as emblematic of that whole genre of kitchy landscape painting that I grew up with, and to which generations of Afrikaners are so attached. In my renditions of De Jongh’s landscapes I struggle with and confront myself in relation to such themes as mastering of the landscape, land ownership, occupation, working the land, patrimony, disowning and deprivation, destroy, burn, and expropriate. In short, the landscape as the terrain of my heritage and emotions related to the story of my origins. Apart from these ideas, De Jongh’s works are also merely a point of departure for me to explore the potential of oil paint to evoke, explore and communicate” – Les Cohn, Project Manager