Hi I'm artist Lillian Gray and I have a
South African artist you simply have to meet
George Pemba!
George Pemba is an artist who defeated
the stereotype that black people could
not become professional painters during
the Apartheid regime in South Africa.
Pemba is often referred to as the Grandmaster of South African Art and is
internationally recognized as one of
South Africa's greatest artists. His
paintings depict the conditions of
people living in townships over six
decades. He provides us with a remarkable
visual history of what he witnessed
through South Africa's transformation. Now why should we listen to George
Pemba's story and why should we pay
attention - simply because it's quite
inspirational. There are a few things I'd
like you to keep in mind when listening
to his story: first of all Pemba was
exposed to very limited art training
that was fragmented throughout his life,
and this was due to all the restrictions
Aparted implemented on black education.
However whatever opportunity presented
itself
Pemba grabbed it with both hands. Keeping
this in mind it is remarkable to see the
amazing standard of his oeuvre. He was
not only a prolific artist but also
highly skilled. His works can easily be
compared to international art movements
and artists of the time. In his art we
can see the influences of German
Expressionism, Realism and Impressionism.
Realism because he depicted society and
his community in a warts-and-all
approach. Impressionism because he
captured fleeting moments of daily life,
and Expressionism because often the
emotion or the narrative is more
important than depicting everything in
minor details. He also sometimes
distorts figures to aid the communication
of emotion. Today he is seen as a pioneer
of Social Realism>
Little George Pemba was born in 1912
just outside PE in a town called Koster
village. From the get-go Pemba just had
an affinity for art, he simply loved it.
He had a really cool dad that encouraged
him to paint and draw and he even
allowed him to draw on the walls. He said
to him "Pemba, please paint some beautiful
murals in our home?". His dad was super proud about his talent,
so he started telling everybody about
how good Pemba was. One day his dad came
home with photos of his boss and said
"Pemba my boss would like you to paint
him" and so Pemba started painting
portraits and it was quite successful.
Pemba was so talented that in 1924 he
won a Gray scholarship which would enable him
to receive a post-primary education.
This is amazing for during Apartheid era.
Unfortunately something super, super sad
happened, at the age of fourteen Pemba's
father passed away.
Despite this hardship Pemba decided to
still follow his dream to become an
artist. At the mere age of 16
Pemba was part of his first exhibition,
it was held at the Feather Market Hall
in Port Elizabeth in 1928. In 1934 his appendix burst and Pemba was
taken to hospital. He had to stay in
hospital for quite a while and while he
was there his art kept him busy. He
started drawing and painting all the
doctors and nurses. They were so
impressed with Pemba's skills that they
told the professor Ethel Smythe at Fort
Hare about Pemba. Being a professor Ethel
had lots of books and he introduced
Pemba to Rembrandt van Rijn, Valeska,
Impressionism and German Expressionism.
He gave Pemba some direction in drawing
and taught him how to use watercolours. After school
Pemba decided to become a teacher and he
studied a diploma in teaching at the
Lovedale Training College. Because it
was really difficult to earn a living
during Apartheid for black people, he
also had to find another job so he
started working at the Lovedale
printing press. They realized he was
quite talented and said to him "Pemba
don't you want to start painting and
doing all the illustrations for our
books?". Pemba was a teacher for seven
years but unfortunately with the Bantu
Education Act black teachers really
didn't earn a lot of money, so he had to
take a new job as an administrator for
the government. In 1941 Pemba won a
scholarship to go to Rhodes University
but it was a rather silly scholarship if
you ask me, it was only for five months,
you have to realize normally you go to
university for at least four years to
get a degree. But Pemba decided to use
these five months to the best of his
ability and learn as much as he possibly
could. Just outside the university there
was art courses run by this old man
called Maurice van Essche. Now back then
it wasn't allowed for black people and
white people to be in the same art class -
but Maurice allowed it. Maurice taught
various students how to draw and paint.
It was at these art lessons Pemba's life
changed dramatically,
he met the amazing Gerard Sekoto.
Gerard Sekoto was a really great South
African artist. He encouraged Pemba to be
a full-time artist and he said to him
"you know what George, you really need to
stop with watercolours, I think it's time
that you move on to oil painting" you see
oil painting was much more robust and
could be preserved forever where
watercolours were finicky and difficult
to keep clean and
frame. He also gave Pemba some great
advice about his art, he said "you need to
pay more attention to your immediate
surroundings as subject matter". Pemba
took all of this advice to heart: he
switched to oils and decided to be a
full-time artist; he jumped into taxis
and travelled to Johannesburg, Durban
Kwazulu-natal, Umtata, Basutoland -
painting portraits of the indigenous
people he met in the different regions.
You have to realize that being an artist
in Apartheid South Africa was no joke
but being a black artist in Apartheid
South Africa was way way way harder.
Pemba had to earn extra income so he
started a spaza shop at his house with
his wife
Gabby. Guess what happened next, when Pemba
entered the May Esther Bedford Art
Competition and he won first prize,
his previous mentor Gerard Sekoto
received second prize. I think this is
amazing. As artists we have to encourage
each other and as an art teacher
I believe my students should one day be
better than what I am. In 1959 Pemba also
started making satirical cartoons. The
first one was published in the ANC
newspaper Isizwe, released in June 1959. Pemba was
also a writer and he produced at least
two staged plays, he also painted various
scenes from his plays. With all his hard
work Pemba was given an honorary
master's degree in arts by the
University of Fort Hare. Although Pemba is
not seen as a protest artist today his
art career was affected by the struggle.
But his biggest contribution was that he
made people see what life was like for
black people under Apartheid rule in the
townships. His representation of Township
life has been described as unpretentious
and honest, displaying an understanding
of humanity. Today he is a respected
watercolour and oil artist. 
Now let's look at some recognition
Pemba has received for an art career that
spanned almost over six decades.
You have to remember that the majority
of this career was spent during the
Apartheid rule. Pemba could only
really become a successful artist and
gain recognition once Apartheid
started falling and Mandela was free. The
esteemed Everard Read Gallery held an
exhibition of Pemba artworks to honour
him for his 80th birthday. A book about
Pemba's life and art was released named
Against All Odds.
Unfortunately Pemba passed away in 2001
and couldn't enjoy other recognitions he
received. Posthumously the South African
government awarded him The Order of
Ikhamanga. A documentary was made of the
artists life and for his hundredth
anniversary the South African post
office released a set of ten
commemorative stamps featuring some of
'Pemba's best-known artwork.
Now we need to look at the
characteristics of Pemba's artworks. We
need to ask ourselves - what did he paint,
where did he paint, how did he paint,
and why. Let's start with the what. Pemba
is known for painting portrait paintings of
individuals or in groups, landscapes,
references to religious topics, and
commentary on political and social
circumstances. Where did he paint?
Although Pemba travelled to various
regions to depict people from all over
South Africa, he concentrated on
depicting the life in the township New
Brighton, where he spent most of his life.
How did he paint, what was his painting
style? Initially Pemba painted in
watercolours, which was a relatively
cheap medium. In his watercolor works the
colour use is soft and seductive but when
he began painting with oil his style
changed. In both his watercolour and oil
paintings he shows a strong feeling for
form.
He creates forms which are solid by using
simplified planes.
He loves using contrasting lines - just
look at their dramatic yellow light on
this purple skin tone. This brings me to
Pemba's use of colour, sometimes he plays
with contrasting colours such as the
complementary blue and orange, red and
green, yellow and purple. His use of
colour is bold and sometimes he uses
impasto brushstrokes. Now, let's talk
about the why, what was the purpose of
Pemba's artwork? To draw attention to the
daily lives of black people in Apartheid
South Africa. He depicts the
uncertainties and the contradictions
that were part of life in South Africa
at the time. His work includes themes
such as joy, fear, loss, the experience of
a daily life, cultural traditions, Human
Rights, politics, and religious commentary.
His work is inclusive of the human
condition through representing his
personal experiences.
Let's discuss two of Pemba's famous
artworks. I would like to begin with this
one: New Brighton Port Elizabeth 1977
oil-on-canvas. By looking at this
painting we need to understand that the
narrative from the Apartheid government
at that stage was that black people are
living like animals, they choose to live
in squatter camps, they are dirty they
are not worthy of having proper homes.
This painting by George Pemba depicts a
completely different narrative. We see a
traffic circle and the community playing
out in the street. Things to notice are
that the street is clean there are trees
and plants planted next to the houses,
all the houses are very neat and tidy,
this shows that this community cares
enough about their environment to make
it beautiful. Note that there is no
infrastructure: no streetlights,
no paved sidewalk. The entire street
culminates into a vanishing point which
ends with industry and the factories in
the background.
Now this harks to the fact that
Apartheid and its regime was
economically driven. The Apartheid
government needed cheap black labor,
especially for the mines, and to keep the
industries running and open. Here in the
middle of the day we see a lot of people
home and in the streets - this comments on
the joblessness in South Africa. People
do not have work and have no where to go.
To depict the vibrancy of the community
and the fact that they are closely knit
and jivey Pemba is using complementary
colours the red and the green, the yellow
and the purple, the orange and the blue,
creates a sense of movement in the
painting.
The next painting I would like to
discuss is Terror 1991 oil on board.
This painting is about the brutal
consequences of the Apartheid system on
the lives of black people.
It has chaotic movement with people
trapped in a confined space. We have
people running towards the viewer, arms
spread out wide in the effort to move
away. In the background we see the
Apartheid police only as silhouettes
starting to shoot people inside a bus or
a train. In the foreground we have people
lying on the ground, they are either dead
or unconscious. There is a suitcase on
the floor and a hat flying off the man's
head - all adding to the chaos of the
moment. We see quite a prominent C-curve
composition in this painting, trapping
the people, making them feel completely
claustrophobic, and the only glimmer of
freedom we can see is some blue sky
shining through the windows.
Note that Pemba didn't paint every
little thing with minute detail, in this
painting the narrative, the story, the
chaos of the moment, capturing the
emotion is more important than the
detail of a button on a shirt. And this
is typical from German Expressionism.
Pemba is more concerned with telling the
story and not the technical aspects of
the painting. His use of colour is quite
analogous, meaning he only uses colours
that are next to each other on the colour
wheel, with a very subdued sombre colour
palette, and note that striking contrast
of the red blood on the white shirt. This
is an important painting because it
depicts the brutal violence that
occurred in the townships under the
Apartheid regime.
Now that you know George Pemba, let us
know which part of his story you find
most inspirational, or which artwork of
his is your personal favourite and why.
I'm artist Lillian Gray and I'm excited
for our next art history lesson!
