Context (CMS Context)
Presented by The Art Fund and the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation. An acquisition project to build a collection of modern and contemporary work on paper from Australia, Canada and South Africa was undertaken over 2011-13 with the support of a grant under The Art Fund's RENEW programme. The collection was developed with the expert advice and generous assistance of Annie Coombes and Norman Vorano in relation to South African and Inuit artists respectively. Khadija Carroll, Anita Herle and Diana Wood Conroy also contributed to the selection process. Obtained as part of a larger group of prints (2013.266- 283) from The Artists' Press (The Artists' Press, Waterboard Farm, White River, Mpumalanga Province, South Africa).

Tony Nkotsi was born in 1955 in Johannesburg and was keenly interested in art as a child. He was detained following involvement in student uprisings in the mid-1970s but pursued art studies on being released and was among the students at the last cohort at Rorke's Drift, leaving at the time the centre closed in 1982.

Mark Attwood has written: "At Rorkes Drift, Tony Nkotsi was exposed to the world of "democratic multiples"; a way of making art that linked to his political sentiments. Far from being limited to linocuts, the Centre's curriculum offered a wide range of print media, intaglio processes such as etching, aquatint, drypoint and mezzotint, as well as woodcuts, screenprints and other forms of colour printing. This curriculum was arguably more extensive than the printmaking training available at most recognised tertiary institutions of that time in South Africa. What he learnt at Rorkes Drift remains today in Nkotsi's commitment and mastery of print processes. Much of the work underscores the political dimension that was encouraged at Rorke's Drift by the debate around social issues. This can be seen in work that is overtly political such as his Portrait of a Man (Biko) 1982." He went on to work extensively in community art projects.

The MAA prints are from a series exemplifying his interest in colour, the figure, and busy human engagement.

Event Date 7/3/2014
Author: maa

Description (CMS Description)
Six colour lithograph by Tony Nkotsi, inscribed, signed, and dated by the artist. Titled 'Poets Convention I', 2004. Edition 14/35. With 'TAP.11-38' written on the rear in pencil. Condition: excellent.
Event Date 7/3/2014
Author: maa