Johannes Phokela

Artist and sculptor, Phokela (b. 1966, Soweto) currently lives and works in Johannesburg. He formally begun pursuing art at Johannesburg’s Federated Union of Black Artists (FUBA) Academy in 1984 and concluded with a master’s degree from The Royal College of Art in London in 1993. Phokela's paintings are predominately oil on canvas. His references to the classical style of the Dutch Golden Age forms images that are not part of the European canon but appear to be. He reinterprets these traditional works with a contemporary language, often referencing violence and political unrest in his home country. Through his work, Johannes retells folklore and parables to create a history that we in the present can relate to. Doing this through lushly painted surfaces and allegory, Phokela’s medium is not the message; his painting is a subversive tool in an intellectually rigorous practice that provokes the viewer.