Keep on Praying

A painting titled, Keep on Praying by the South African artist Kagiso Patrick Mautloa (b.1952). The painting is the abstract of man on his knees, praying in front of a Christian cross. The white lines form a shield against a forming pool of blood, whereas the dark and bright red is a symbolic reference to old blood and the new blood. The work references the battles and chaos that ensued in apartheid South Africa right after the unbanning of black political parties in 1990. These battles between rival parties continued until the democratic 1994 elections in South Africa. Short biography: Kagiso Patrick (Pat) Mautloa was born in Ventersdorp (former Western Transvaal) on the 24 September 1952 in South Africa. His family moved to Soweto in 1954. He commenced his art studies while still in highschool at the Jubilee Art School in 1969 and in 1970 went onto the Mofolo Park Arts Centre. He completed his schooling in 1972 and continued at Mofolo until 1975. In 1978, he relocated to the Rorke’s Drift Art School in Natal to complete his studies with the OK Bazaars Bursary. In 1980 he began working for the OK Bazaars as a junior graphic artist and during this time also taught art part-time at the Mofolo Arts Centre and at FUBA. In 1981 Mautloa joined the SABC as a graphic designer. Mautloa is a committee member of the Thupelo Art Project at the National Museum and Art Gallery in Gaborone, Botswana and has participated in their yearly workshops. His work has been exhibited at several major exhibitions such as the UFH Annual Exhibitions, the UZ African Art Festival Exhibitions, the Goodman Gallery, the Grassroots Gallery in Westville (Natal), the Johannesburg Art Foundation and for the Cassirer Fine Art Johannesburg group. He currently lives in Alexandra in Johannesburg, and produces commercial graphic design as well as his own art work. He is married to another well-known South African artist, Bongi Dhlomo.