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Phoshoko, David Mothabeng

Born in Wonderboom, Tshwane (Pretoria) in 1945.  As a young boy he tended cattle in the Magaliesberg north of Pretoria.  He was interested in farming and wanted to work with wood, but his grandfather was a Christian minister and wanted Phoshoko to follow him.  Phoshoko first went to schoole at Onderstepoort, north of Pretoria.

 

 

Wonderboom, where the Phoshoko family lived, was declared a white suburb in 1959 and the family was moved north to Rama Village near De Wildt.  In 1962, they settled in Ga-Rankuwa, where he trained at the Hebron Training Institute.  Phoshoko took his first job at a porcelain factory in Rosslyn, where he worked from 1963 until 1970. There he started to develop his talent by modelling in clay and casting pottery.

 

 

He met other artists who were also struggling and teaching themselves, and was assisted by Isaac Nkoana.  He participated in several group exhibitions from 1968.  In 1972, the group of artists who worked together was invited to have an exhibition of their art at the home of an American.  This was followed by many more exhibitions at the homes of diplomats from, amongst others, the Canadian and Australian embassies.

 

 

Phoshoko's first solo exhibition was held at the Arts Association in Pretoria in 1976.  Two years later, his second solo exhibition took place at the Kingsley Centre in Pretoria where he exhibited his sculptures and woodcut prints.  Like many other young artists, he liked the woodcut medium as it was cheap and he could make many prints which would sell easily.  His work is represented in many private and public art collections.

 

 

Phoshoko has since mde many woodcut prints, sculptures in wood and he has also cast small sculptures in bronze.  This is an expensive process and he prefers to work in wood.  He wascommissioned to do wooden panels for, amongst others, the hospital in Ga-Rankuwa in 1978 and at MEDUNSA the following year.  His main subjects are biblical themes, with titles such as Despair, Peace, Mother and Child and Dancers.  Other sources are tribal stories, birds and animals.  He takes pride in his African heritage and also practices as a medicine man.

 

Ref:  Walking Tall, Without Fear - 24 South African Artists from the Struggle Era by Ifa Lethu & Dirkie Offringa

Mothabeng David Phoshoko

Born on the 19 June 1945 in Wonderboom, Pretoria.

 

With the forced removals in 1959, he and his family resettled in the town of De Wildt, and would eventually come to reside in Ga-Rankua in 1962.

 

In the 1970s, Phoshoko and other artists began trading works with diplomats staying in the country. This patronage was fundamental to establishing Phoshoko and his fellow artists. His first solo exhibition was held in 1976, at the Nedbank Centre in Pretoria, and in 1978 he exhibited in West Germany.

 

Phoshoko and other black artists were committed to exposing the works of black struggles artists who were their contemporaries.When Poshoko's own township came under the homeland government of Bophuthatswana, he began spearheading a drive to start and sustain art and craft centers in the area.

 

Ref:

http://www.arteye.co.za/art/index.php/viretuemart/thokozani-mthiyane/represented/phoshoko-david

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