(Andre's wife. Trish Botha with
his work. Courtesy of The Berea Mail)
Andre Botha, a South African artist and
world class athlete, has already put South Africa on the map as a two time
world body boarding champion and recently had his first art show in Durban.
To the world, to the waves, to the funny
farm? Durban’s famous Andre Botha opened his premier art exhibition simply
entitled Andre Botha’s Funny Farm. It
comprised his most recent thought provoking works on canvas as well as his
latest film projects, taking viewers through a recent surf trip across South
Africa.
Andre was born in Cape Town and raised in
Durban since the age of four. His passion for the ocean came quick and at the
young age of 15 he packed his bags and travelled to the paramount location for
waves in the world, Hawaii’s North Shore. There he etched a name out for
himself in the professional body-boarding world. This began his life of travelling
around the world for the best surf locations and in no time at all he became
the youngest body-boarding world champion.
Along Andre’s many years of world travel,
he discovered art. A simple sketchpad was purchased and from that moment on
there was no looking back. He spent his surf trips scoring massive waves while
racking up a hefty collection of his own original art. While traveling Andre he
carried sketchpads and filled endless pages with detailed and deep drawings.
Interestingly enough, many of his canvases
were purchased more than ten years ago and have only been completed recently. Each
canvas is literally littered with layers, like an onion to enhance the style. If
someone asked him to explain his art he would reply by saying, “My art is the
unexplained.” In recent surf trips to the West Coast of South Africa he spent
off time searching the desert terrain for skulls. He discovered the power
behind the simple beauties of nature and found clever ways of incorporating
them into his works.
For more information on the exhibition visit bereamail.co.za/22734/launch-andre-bothas-art-exhibition
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