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A global art contest came to an end and it saw the intimate occasion of the well-deserved announcement of three artists who won the Bic Art Master competition. The artists walked away with cash prizes after exhibiting their aptitude for creating stunning ballpoint pen artworks.
The competition is run across Africa and the Middle East annually. The idea is simple – create an art piece with any one of Bic’s widely used pens.
Chosen from thousands of entries across the continent, 10 people are recognised as art masters and this year our country has three.
READ: Talented local wins Bic art contest
The 22-year-old Astral Msekeli from KwaZulu-Natal is a security guard by trade and a gifted artist – who was crowned the national winner – by night.
Congratulations to the winners of this year's BIC Art Master Africa competition, which invites artists to create artworks using the iconic #BIC Ballpoint Pen. One continent-wide winner and 11 national winners were chosen out of 6,350 entries! Find out more https://t.co/2GNAu1B9AQ pic.twitter.com/a83kVL8kjc
— BIC (@BICGroup) October 6, 2021
With him, occupying seventh and ninth places, respectively, are Thuso Modikela from Rustenburg and Brandon Lee Ponen from Pietermaritzburg.
The three artists appeared calm and collected on the day of the prize-giving, which was held at the Bic warehouse in the west of Johannesburg. The highly imaginative but reserved artists spoke to #Trending about the work they poured into their winning entries.
Msekeli’s piece is titled Ubuntu and was inspired by his grandmother.
He explained:
Modikela’s offering is a piece called Flowers of the Universe and it aims to raise awareness of violence against women and children. He also has designs on igniting the culture of arts in his home town.
Ponen’s piece – Roll the Dice – is inspired by life and how much of a roller coaster it can be.
“I’m extremely passionate about art as it is my whole life. It is basically a full-time job. In the future, I hope to have my own studio where I develop other artists and share my techniques,” Ponen said.
Modikela chimed in: “It is not easy for young people to focus on art in these times because, in my community, art is not certain because there are no platforms for artists to showcase their work.”
Ponen added: “Yeah, it’s a bit tough; it isn’t like overseas. We aren’t a First World country; art is more of a thing that the rich are more likely to buy.”
Watch: These ink drawings are on point
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