28 Jan 2021

Acclaimed visual maestro, Wilson Ngoni has struck gold again by releasing his selected paintings in celebration of his 30 years in the creative industry.

 The paintings, dubbed ‘Living with the brush,’ has been described as a labour of love by Ngoni. He added that they communicated his creative attitude, love for humanity and life.

“This catalogue is unusual in several ways. It was not planned as a formal compilation.

Furthermore, it is a private venture motivated by insightful reflections on the life I have lived as a painter,” he said.

Detailing the motive behind creating the coffee table book, Ngoni said as a solution to the disheartening COVID-19 pandemic that has scourged the world, he decided to compile an exhibition in the form of a book.

“The book is an exposition of my work and it gives the public an opportunity to view and experience my paintings from the comfort of their homes without the risk of contracting the virus,” he explained.

Furthermore, Ngoni also explained the colourful dots that are a trademark of his artworks.

“My work is rife with a hallmark of solid dots of colours semantically emblematic to my artistic objective of contributing to the general happiness of humanity, and that is all explained in my latest offering,” he explained.

He also explained that the book focused on the relationship between art and society as evident on the themes that were used such as human experience, cultural symbolism, wildlife as well as obsessive topics of love.

As with all sectors of the economy, Ngoni said his business was also affected by the pandemic, as it was now impossible to physically showcase his paintings at exhibitions because of the restrictions imposed by COVID-19.

He said he had to focus on publishing the book as a way of remaining relevant and generating income.

Ngoni plans to exhibit virtually as a way of embracing the digital revolution.

“As artists, if we resign ourselves to ignorance and indolence, we will fail to be in touch with duration and our artistic serpent will leave no trail.

Thus, we will fail to make future generations to reach their souls home,” he said.

 “Living with the brush is more of a journey than a book to me. I made the decision to live with the brush because without it I would not feel alive,” said Ngoni.

Retailing for P500, Ngoni said the public, both locally and internationally, had received his book with open arms since its release in December and thanked Batswana for their unwavering support. ENDs