For the launch of the Gallery on 4^th, we were looking for artists who are inspired by South African street culture and who are able to convey what it means to be young and BE TRUE in SA today. Of course we were expecting these artists to be fairly young but some of them, like the creative collective “The Punk Soul Brothers”, still managed to surprise us…

At 10 and 11 respectively, Ross and Callum Sey actually fit the collaborator’s profile quite perfectly, listing skateboarding, art, reading and Playstation games as favourite free time activities. With some practical assistance from Mom Sue they’ve produced a range of radical T-Shirts that just goes to show ‘being true’ has nothing to do with age.

Here is an excerpt from a recent interview with The Punk Soul Brothers:

What do you want to be doing in ten years time?

C: I want to go to Paris to study to be an author at this famous university (I can’t remember the name of it).

R: I’m going to America to study to be a graphic artist.

Best part of your day?

C: Getting home from school.

R: (nodding) Getting home from school.

Worst part of your day?

C: Homework.

R: (nodding) Homework.

If you could change the world in one way, what would you do?

R: I’d stop crime.

C: I’d stop pollution.

Your definition of art?

C: Expressing yourself.

R: (nodding) Expressing yourself.

C: Hey! Stop copying me.

For more info, contact Sue at: susansey@mweb.co.za

• » Comments (0)

With the smell of the burnt toast of many a well-meant Mother’s Day breakfast still hovering in homes countrywide, I thought it would be most appropriate to devote some blog space to our dear Mother City.

The launch of the legendary Nike Dunk in South Africa was an excellent excuse for Cape Town’s cool to get down at the SHELFLIFE NIKE BLOCK PARTY. On Friday the 25th of April Nike & Shelflife, one of Cape Town’s freshest street culture stores, treated over 200 guests to the BE TRUE spirit.

The evening started off with 6 taxis (which had been sprayed by 6 of Cape Town’s hottest graffiti artists, each in a different Nike Dunk colour) setting the scene in front of the store on Loop Street. There guests could explore the upstairs Shelflife Gallery where a unique BE TRUE sculpture and hundreds of images of the taxi’s being painted were on display. (A nice touch & big hit of the evening was The Nike Dunk Stencil Wall where guests had the chance to create their own style of Nike Dunk.)

As the evening progressed, guests congregated downstairs in the BE TRUE Café where the likes of ILL SKILLS JAZZ BAND, INTELEKTU (MC), SWEAT X, & DJ NASTY provided the soundtrack. See more pics at our Flickr Gallery or go to the main blog by clicking here.

• » Comments (1)

Alon Skuy does not want to be called an ‘award-winning photographer.’ So I won’t. But I could have.

After completing a course at The Market Photo Workshop in Newtown, Johannesburg, he started his career working as a freelance photographer for The Star, The Saturday Star and the Sunday Independent Newspapers. In December 2006 he was employed as a full time photographer for the Star, and later moved to The Times, where he’s been working for a year.

See the picture that earned him the Mondi Shanduka Newspaper Award for News Photographs here. He was praised for his ability to capture the essence and emotions of “a moment of experience that will dwell for a long time with the two people involved” as well as being “a photographer who does not flinch, even when there is major danger in the air.” The photographs he took for the Nike BE TRUE Exhibition - and which also served as a poignant backdrop for the fashion of Lisa Jaffe – can be viewed at the store on 4th Avenue, or online.

• » Comments (0)

Growing up in Vereeniging, which Warren van Rensburg fondly remembers as ‘the land of dreams’, can make or break a young artistic spirit.

 

 

But the lack of cool in his hometown sent Warren on a quest to find it anywhere he could. At the relatively late age of 16, he took up skateboarding - and through skateboarding magazines got into photography. He now makes art and a living through his lens. And still skates too. See what he did for the Nike BE TRUE Exhibition and find out more at his other work at http://warrenvanrensburg.blogspot.com/

• » Comments (0)

Chris Saunders is a Johannesburg based photographer, working primarily in the fashion, portrait & advertising spheres.

 

 

While he does express frustration at having to curb his creativity in order to tow the creative industry line, this work allows his to pursue a (self funded) fine art career which has escalated in the past 3 years. He is also involved in a creative collective, team uncool, which creates new and experimental projects with mixed media. Very cool, in an uncool sort of way. Or vice versa. You know what I mean. Take a look at what he did for the Nike BE TRUE Exhibition at the Gallery on 4th.

 

More info at:

http://www.chrissaunderssa.blogspot.com

http://www.teamuncool.co.za

• » Comments (0)