Urban Belonging: Madeleine van Manen at Nando’s Creative Exchange

Nando’s Creative Exchange (NCX) aims to recognise emerging South African fine artists who demonstrate exceptional ability and help them take the next steps in their careers. We spoke with Madeleine van Manen, one of the chosen local artists for the programme.

INTERVIEWED BY Gina Dionisio PHOTOS Supplied

Nando’s Creative Exchange (NCX) is the flagship artist development programme within the Nando’s Art Initiative. It aims to recognise emerging fine artists from Southern Africa who demonstrate exceptional talent. The programme provides these artists with the support they need to advance their careers to the next level.

Each year, the Spier Arts Trust selects four artists and a mentor for Nando’s Creative Exchange (NCX) programme, which includes mentorship, material sponsorship, and a group exhibition. The latest exhibition, The Promise, featured Lionel Mbayiwa, Rentia Retief, Kenneth Shandu, and Madeleine van Manen.

We spoke with Madeleine to find out more about her Nando’s Creative Exchange journey.

Can you describe the central theme or message in your work for this year’s Nando’s Creative Exchange exhibition, The Promise? How does it connect to your overall artistic journey? 

I obsessively paint the city, aiming to capture the essence of a scene and the emotion related to that moment, trying to make sense of who and where I am. We all come to the city to chase a dream. We believe in the promise it holds for a better life, and for reaching our goals.  

Buildings tell the story of humanity. They are places to hide, rest, share, gather, work, worship, exclude, invest, feast, heal, make love, dream, learn, create … places to experience all human emotions, satisfactions, and discords. They are containers and incubators. 

Belonging. Be(long)ing. To have an affinity for a place, the sense of being accepted as part of a group. A sense of fulfilment. That, I guess, is what I’m after. 

Yet, in a city of nearly five million people, it is surprisingly easy to feel isolated, anonymous, and lonely. There can be a great silence within all that noise. While I use existing buildings as a reference, the idea is not that they are architecturally accurate. I am always amazed that people still recognise the buildings or the place. 

Your practice involves a range of materials and techniques. How do you decide which medium to use for each piece, and what role do they play in conveying the messages you want to communicate? 

Each material and technique plays a vital role in the telling of the story. This can include gouache, oil, engraving, pastel, pencil and charcoal, pastes of various kinds, and collage. Most paintings have at least two materials and sometimes all of them.  Compared to the initial stage of working out the composition, this becomes a more intuitive phase, but not without its technical challenges. With the textures and colours, I try to convey the first feeling I had when looking at the buildings in that space.  

How has your background and upbringing influenced the themes you explore in your art, especially in the context of socio-economic or environmental issues? 

As a child, I lived in three different cities. It was exciting. Each city was a new adventure. Adulthood took me on many journeys; both good and bad. Like so many women in our country, I was a single mom, as well as the sole breadwinner for a long time, so the corporate world was the way to survive, working mostly as a designer. I moved between cities and once lived on a farm, which, to my surprise, was not for me. When I was finally able to return to my art full-time, it was a total reset. I could not simply continue where I stopped so many years ago.  

I found myself drawn to the city – its chaos and its structure, the calm that comes with anonymity and the promise that comes with seemingly unending opportunities.

This year’s mentorship has been with Nkosinathi Quwe, a 2018 NCX alumnus. How did his guidance impact your work and approach to the creative process? Were there any particular lessons that stood out for you? 

Let me rather speak about how the entire group influenced me. I met Lionel and Rentia through Creative Block, as we all live in the Cape Town area, so we often see each other on hand-in days. Initially, it seemed like there was no overlap between our work. We had to come up with a common thread to create a cohesive show and message. We come from different places and have had vastly different experiences. When the five of us met as a group for the first time, there were surprisingly many similar words and concepts that kept coming up in our discussions. That was inspiring! While I didn’t change the way I work (we were selected for how we work after all, and not how we should be changing) it definitely deepened my thinking and personal experience of the scenes that I paint. I have great respect for them all. 

Art can often serve as a mirror to society. How do you think your work challenges or reflects the current socio-political and environmental issues in Southern Africa? 

A city is a place of opportunity for so many, but it can be everything else too. It is dangerous, delightful, excitingly beautiful, and also full of decay. The very good, the very bad and everything in between all side by side. I believe that isolation (which can be solitude sometimes and loneliness at other times) is what can be felt by every citizen in the city, whether homeless or wealthy. The graffiti I sometimes use in my paintings is not random. In “To Let” for instance, there is a reference to the tragedy of available space while the city struggles with thousands of homeless people. The “To Let” sign is high up on the building – out of reach for many.  

The NCX programme offers not only exposure but also mentorship and support for professional growth. In what ways has this experience influenced your perspective on the business side of being an artist? 

My studio practice is pretty organised, but with the support and broadened practices of Spier Arts Trust, I will now be able to expand my creative practice even further. Furthermore, through this exhibition, there are already two further exhibitions tentatively planned with Rentia and Kenneth, as well as the amazing opportunity for our show to be at the AVA during the 2025 Art Fair.  

Can you tell us about a specific piece in the The Promise exhibition that holds personal significance for you, and what its creation process was like? 

I’ve already spoken a little bit about “To Let” which, by the way, has about 360 or more rectangles that were each painted individually. There are many personal elements in that painting. Besides the To Let sign that is high up on the building, presumably only visible to people who have already reached some sort of access to another high building at least, there is also the faded graffiti that says “1 DAY”. It refers to our collective dreams of “making it” one day, that shared belief in the promise that the opportunity of a city holds. Similarly, the piece of fragile tape – situations, people, environment …. The word “MAD” references a time and place when I was working at an advertising agency. It was a particularly traumatic time for me, a rollercoaster of unfortunate events. The map and the entrance to the parking garage are statistical. It gives my location and place. It shows you where I am in this city and I am even fortunate enough to have off-street parking. 

Looking ahead, what are some of the goals you have for your art career in the coming years? How do you envision your practice evolving and impacting your community or the art world? 

I have three or four exhibitions planned for 2025 and 2026, as well as a solo. After that, I’d like to explore some art residencies. While my paintings share the feelings of many people, they remain personal reflections of my own responses and emotions. However, like with The Promise, my experience with the city keeps evolving as I share it with others. When people look at my work and talk about it, they talk about their own experiences, which they recognise in some of my work. While it is not as important to me what a person feels or recognises in my paintings, it is more important that they feel something. Through them feeling something, I feel acknowledged.  

Spotlighting South African Talent

Many of the artists who have taken part in NCX have gone on to great things. For example, Tafadzwa Tega, NCX artist from 2019, has exhibited in Milan, Italy, and at the Cape Town Art Fair, where his exhibition – Zumbani – was a sell-out success.

Other NCX alumni, including Robyn Pretorius, Nkosinathi Quwe (2024’s mentor) and many others, have used the programme to catapult their careers to new heights, with their works being included in various local and internal exhibitions and art fairs, such as the 1-54 Africa art fair in London, as well as selling into various well-respected collections. | nandoscreativity.co.za

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