The Da Vinci Hotel & Suites on Sandton’s Nelson Madela Square features artworks by Mbogeni Buthelezi alongside designs by Gerhard Swart and Anthony Harris of Ceramic Matters.
You pioneered painting with with melted plastic waste because you lacked resources. Why have you continued with this medium, even though now you are a successful artist?
As a student, I realised that good art doesn’t come from expensive materials. I wanted to challenge myself by experimenting with something that has no frame of reference. In essence, being different was my way of getting over not having money and today, it is a fun way to travel and make a living. I also loved developing my own language of communication.
How has your training at the Funda Centre unde the great Sihlala influenced your contemporary work?
Bhut’ D contributed so much to my life and deserves a special place in the history of this country. I was fortunate to be in that space because I shared it with great artists, musicians and poets and I translate that gratitude into my work. My favourite people to paint are musicians and artists.
What was the inspiration behind you Porte-Cochere paintings at the Da Vinci Hotel?
Because it’s a hotel and caters to people of different origins, I was inspired to paint people moving in different directions. And because it’s for human beings of all colours, I decided not to focus on the faces. It’s not realism and it’s not abstract.
Are your experinces as an artist from Soweto captured in those paintings that sit in South Africa’s wealthiest suburbs?
Plastic is considered to be dirt but, when I use it to paint, I first clean it and then give it energy in a different space. Once I breathe new life into the plastic, it becomes something new and it belongs. I paint with cheap materials but this doesn’t mean I’m limited to painting township scenes.
• Mbongeni Buthelezi: mbongenibu@gmail.com
• Da Vinci Hotel & Suites: 011 806 6888, http://davinci.legacyhotels.co.za
