Nelson Mandela has been everywhere the past few days, but lets take a look at some wonderful artwork he produced back in the early 2000s. Mandela was incarcerated for nearly 3 decades on Robbin Island.
For this series that depicts many locations of his surroundings, he made 20 images.
As an artist I find he has a great sense of design. He left out so many shapes and put in only the essentials. Imagine how many items are actually in a prison cell. But his cell looks empty and lifeless.
I also find his printmaking style interesting. Many artists that did illustration in the golden age of illustration used a method of paint and charcoal, sometimes allowing the charcoal to show through. Mandela used a black crayon for his outline. The lines aren’t the boring and straight as you would expect, but they have nice uneven weight to them, making them far more exciting than one might normally think.
Price range information: Sorry none available.
Its great to see a great person making great art! Another artist who made great work at an advanced age!
This link has further detail on his Robben Island series. A brief background about each image is given:
http://www.nelsonmandelaart.com/my-robben-island—series-i.html
To close we take a look at my favorite work of art that uses Mandela as a subject. This work is done by an artist who uses laser cut wood and steel to make wonderful sculptures. His name is Marco Cianfanelli.
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