Peo
BY FEATURED ARTIST: Atang Tshikare
Atang Tshikare, Peo (Seed), 2020, patinated bronze, 100 x 100 x 60 cm. Photograph by Southern Guild Gallery.
Atang Tshikare / OCT 2020 / ISSUE 2
I am a multidisciplinary creative based in Cape Town, specializing in sculptural design since 2016. I have been drawing for as long as I can remember, on any surface that I could get my hands on. I was influenced by the visual storytelling and graphic style of my father—an anti-Apartheid activist who illustrated for various pan-African publications and art magazines.
Many of my designs spring from my imagination and deep connection to my native Tswana and other Southern African cultures. My collections draw on my interest in vernacular architecture, local landscapes, biomorphic forms and zoomorphic shapes.
As an artwork, Peo is a representation of my son, born from my wife and me. A synthesis of life that we bring to the world. The piece itself can be considered a seat which can be used on multiple sides, even accommodating two people on one of the sides, as such, it is a loveseat. If you look close you will see that it is made with two elements that have come together to create this single piece. The song I dedicate to this piece is "Father and Mother," by Thabang Tabane. I love the entire album, I even have it on vinyl. The song talks about our God making miracles.
Atang Tshikare is a self-taught artist born in Bloemfontein, South Africa, in 1980. Atang began a full-time art career in 2010 with his company Zabalazaa Design, collaborating with local artists and working on commissions with brands such as Adidas Originals, Puma, BMW and MTV Base. He began exhibiting limited-edition work with Southern Guild in 2012, applying his architectural line-based artwork to furniture and telling personal narratives using urban-inspired forms. His collectible designs have evolved into sculptural furniture and functional art in a variety of materials including ceramics, fiberglass, wood and bronze. Atang’s work for Southern Guild takes an experimental approach to fabrication, as he prefers making his pieces himself by hand. He has exhibited broadly, including at international design fairs and museums such as Design Days Dubai, Design Miami and Design Miami/ Basel, as well as the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa. He is the recipient of the Design Foundation 2014 Future Found Award and has been featured in Nataal, PIN-UP Magazine, and on Dezeen, CNN and BBC. In 2019 he was a judge for Dezeen Awards, and a nominator for London Design Museums’ Beazley Awards and Créateurs Design Awards in 2020.