Artist, Andrew Ntshabele, born 1986, lives and works in the inner city of Johannesburg, and his art is informed by his environment. His mixed-media paintings – a fusion of collage and acrylic – depict what he sees and lives with every day.
Artist, Andrew Ntshabele, born 1986, lives and works in the inner city of Johannesburg, and his art is informed by his environment. His mixed-media paintings – a fusion of collage and acrylic – depict what he sees and lives with every day.
Andrew Ntshabele uses newspapers, music scores, postcards and other printed paper items as background for his art.
Andrew’s topic is all about people – people living and working in Johannesburg, the city he wants to showcase.
Andrew walks around with his camera and captures scenes and moments he wants to bring on his unique canvas.
Andrew Ntshabele about his career, his self-conception as an artist and on the opportunity to show his works in Europe.
Andrew was born in the small rural town of Moruleng in the North West Province but moved with his family to the city at a young age. He studied Art at the University of Johannesburg and was awarded his BTech degree, majoring in painting, in 2013.
“I have lived in Johannesburg since the age of four and have witnessed its physical, socio-economic and political changes post-Apartheid,” he explains. “I still live in the inner city where I’m confronted by poverty, pollution and urban decay every day. I’m interested in the people who live in this environment, in the negative effects of rapid urbanisation and how they put a strain on the people I encounter and interact with daily.”
Andrew’s work investigates the social predicament of the city to understand the root causes of the current inner-city decay. “My work is a social commentary on the socio-economic challenges that the majority of Black South Africans face in a post-colonial South Africa. My focal subject matter is often the pollution and rubbish amongst which the inner-city residents live, which is why my paintings incorporate more than one medium. They’re a fusion of collage and acrylic paint, and are produced from photographs I take on my daily travels around the inner city and its outskirts.”
EXHIBITION HISTORY (short summary):
2020 – Solo exhibition in Berlin
2020 – Group exhibition in Crailsheim
2020 – ART Innsbruck
2019 – Group exhibition in Cape Town
2019 – Solo exhibition in Johannesburg
2019 – Group exhibition in Frankfurt
2019 – Group exhibition in Stuttgart
2019 – Group exhibition in Munich
2018 – Solo exhibition in Johannesburg
2018 – Group exhibition in Hildesheim
2018 – Group exhibition in Hamburg
2018 – Group exhibition in Ludwigshafen
This is a selection of art fairs and exhibitions Andrew Ntshabele recently participated in.
From kids playing on the street to street workers in Johannesburg – the topics of Andrew Ntshabele cover a wide range but all with the background of people living in his home town.
All works can be rolled and shipped in a tube to any destination around the globe.
Please contact Andrew via mail@andrewntshabele.com
Interested in the works of Andrew Ntshabele?
Please contact us via email – we are happy to assist with any queries.
This is already our second work from Andrew and we are pretty sure it will not be the last one!
It was the first time that we saw the works of Andrew Ntshabele and instantly fell in love with them - his paintings are just amazing.
I think Andrew Ntshabele is the master in capturing the life in Johannesburg. The expression, the movements, the scenes - all looks natural and brings back our memories when we were in South Africa.