1935, May 13: Andrew 1Tshidiso Motjuoadi is Born in Limpopo (formerly Known as Northern Transvaal)
1935 – 1960: 2there is a scarcity of documentation around the artist life during this period.
1961 – 1962: Studies in Durban and University of the North
1963: First one man show in Johannesburg
1964: Motjuoadi is commissioned to paint backgrounds for Cornel Wilde’s film The Naked Prey
1965: Participates in several group exhibitions; (The Penny Whistlers)
1966: Awarded a prize in the Artists of Fame and Promise Exhibition, Johannesburg; (Kwela Boys)
1967: Andrew Motjuoadi Suffers a Stroke
1968: Motjuoadi passes away after being paralyzed for nearly a year. The artists surviving body of work is handed over to Esmé Berman for safe keeping.
1971: A memorial – Retrospective Exhibition of his work is held, Johannesburg, South African Association of Arts Gallery, Herbert Evans, Johannesburg.
1988: He is included in the The Neglected Tradition Exhibition¸Johannesburg Art Gallery
1990: He is included in the exhibition Looking at Our Own: Africa, Pretoria Art Museum
Notes:
- Esmé Berman acknowledges the artist name in full name (see Berman, E 1983, page 200). Art and Artists of South Africa: An Illustrated Biographical Dictionary and Historical survey of Painters, Sculptors and Graphic Artists Since 1875. A. Balkema, South Africa, Johannesburg.
- Motjuoadi is considered to be a self taught artist, the period from 1935 to 1960 wherein the artists could have been brought up in a particular community in Northern Transvaal/Limpopo has not been documented in the sources that were available during my research. This represents a great puzzle in the life of this artist. This period could prove valuable in ascertaining where he attained his primary education, high school education as well as a form of arts education or contact with art or western traditional art making materials such as pencil and paper which he was conversant with. More research is needed in this period of the artist’s life, such research could shed light into the gap that exists in Motjuoadi’s life. Armed with this missing data we might perhaps also be afforded the opportunity to delve into the choice of style of the artist in the light of contact with visual art stimulus that the artist might have come into contact with during the initial year of his art practice.
© Mmutle Arthur Kgokong 2015
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