Patrick Rulore’s winning of SASOL New Signatures Art Competition in 2019 might have come as a surprise to anyone who has followed this art competition closely over the years. In the light of this three decade year old art competition, art had taken interesting manifestations with the previous artists who had won the art competition in the last ten years or so as they dappled in photography and performance art (Mohau Modisakeng), Art and Natural Sustainability (Ingrid Bolton), the interception between Fine Art and Animation (the late Dot Vermeulen), Video Installation and Artificial Intelligence (Nelmarie Du Preeze & Lebohang Khanye), Installation Art (Zyma Amien & Jessica Storm Kapp). While Kapp dealt with the articulation of the residue left in the wake of wild fire’s destruction of precious homes Amien’s work reflected the impact of the death of the garment industry in our country.
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What could be intrinsically discerned in the winning works by these artists was that within the historical continuum of nearly a decade before Rulore’s winning, to a greater extend the winning works were reliant on using somewhat non-traditional art making materials (and to a fair extent) to carry the themes espoused within the illusive visual arts paradigm of discourses, and in turn this phenomenon set new possibilities and avenues for successive artists to grapple with the visual art object onwards. It left those who cared about the visual arts wondering what kind of work would win this art competition in years to come. What had become the mainstay feature was the rich conceptual grounding of the work and its meticulous finish as far as presentation is concerned.
Rulore’s winning, was a swift tug that asserted painting as still relevant a vehicle to tell stories that articulate the present human condition. Stage 4 Moments (2019) was remarkable for many things with regard to the conventions that brings a painting to life. But in its totality it asked mankind to realise that as much as Load Shedding was a hindrance to our comfortable lifestyle, effortlessly, it peeled away the layers of our artificial connectedness (Please refer to Figure 1). In this edition of Intraparadox’s interception, Rulore allows us a perspective into his formative years as an artist, his first attempts at entering SASOL New Signatures Art Competition and his subsequent enrolment at Tshwane University of Technology to study Fine Art. Rulore’s experience of SASOL New Signatures Art Competition encompasses that of a self taught artist and that of an academically trained artist. While most artists enter the university setting unaware that they are in actual fact entering a training program to become industrious, entrepreneurs, to become businesses. This realisation dawns on some artists after graduation. Rulore’s artistic journey set-out with this realisation fully established because he was an entrepreneur prior to his academic training. I remain thankful to him for being part of the Intraparadox experience.
16 June
Winter
© Mmutle Arthur Kgokong, 2021
N.B. This feature is dedicated to Prof. Pieter Binsbergen (SASOL New Signatures Art Competition National Chairperson (2010 – 2019).
Reference credit
Opening of the soundtrack credits:
+All images featured on this site have been used with permission of the artist and may not be re-used without consent of the artist. **Graphics for the blog post teaser poster is property of Mmutle Arthur Kgokong.
++The audio version of this interview, encountered in version.Dun3s&IrieAmbientMIX remains the property of Mmutle Arthur Kgokong except where his name appears alongside that of a featured artist or artists.
List of figures
Figure1. Patrick Rulore. Stage 4 moments (2019). Oil on canvas.101 cm x 122 cm
To reference this text & audio documentation please cite:
Kgokong, M.A. 2021. Intraparadox, An Interview with Patrick Rulore, A Stage For Moments.1 Jun 2021.Dun3s&IrieAmbientMIX. Mmutleak.com-Intraparadox. https://mmutleak.com/2021/06/18/intraparadox-an-interview-with-patrick-rulore-a-stage-for-moments/
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