Peter SIBEKO (b. 1940)
Township
1994
pastel on paper
23 x 18 cm
BIOGRAPHY
Peter Sibeko was born in Orlando East, Soweto, into a family with eight children. He was taught to draw and paint by his father, Walter Sibeko, and, by the age of 15, his artistic talent was already evident. He was mentored by David Mbele, who introduced him to charcoal drawing, and Solomon Sekhaolelo, who coached him in oil painting. Fellow artists Godfrey Ndoba and Ben Macala offered him ‘joint assessment’ and critique as they all struggled to make and sell their work in the dark days of ‘the struggle’ against apartheid.
Sibeko was a mixed media artist, who produced abstract figurative works that embrace many aspects of everyday big city and township life. People going about their daily chores, cleaning, cooking and chatting were captured on board and paper in crayon, charcoal and pastel—whatever came to hand. He developed a distinctive style of depicting people and animals by outline—often against a background of sand glued to the paper or board matrix. He adapted acrylic or oil painting to this technique to give an earthy texture to his works.
In the late 1980s, Sibeko opened his own studio, Soweto Art Gallery, which also served as an exhibition outlet for many aspiring artists.
He was a founder member of FUBA (Federated Union of Black Artists), which was supported with sponsorship of its premises close to the Market Theatre in Johannesburg.
Sibeko’s work was included in various group exhibitions in South Africa, Botswana, the United Kingdom, the United States (Washington and New York), Australia, and Mauritius. His work can be found in many corporate and private collections, both in South Africa and abroad.