April 5th, 2014
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I AM BECAUSE WE ARE
I was humbled by the invitation to paint a 40 Meter tall (10 story) Nelson Mandela mural in the east city of Johannesburg commissioned by the Maboneng precinct as a gift to the city in memory of this giant of a man.
The mural is inspired by Madiba’s definition of ‘Ubuntu’ which is; ‘You cannot be human all by yourself’.
I chose to paint the iconic image of him boxing as he believed all were equal in the ring. Also this wall is not to far from the rooftop where this image was taken.I was so honored when permission was granted to me to paint the mural using the image by Bob Gosani copywrite by the BAHA foundation.
The mural took me 4 days to complete in 2013 just after Madiba’s passing.And I almost completed it on the day of his funeral,with only a few touch ups to do the storms and winds came down and the window washer broke and so completion was delayed to 2014.
I am truly inspired by the legacy of Madiba forever grateful and motivated to continue living to achieve his vision.
I am because we are
Photos by Bheki Dube and Myself.
April 5th, 2014
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ELEPHANT MONDAY
A2 screen print
Fabriano cotton paper
Edition of 25 with hand detail.
Price: R1000 or 100$
April 5th, 2014
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Please take a look ,like and share a new project I co founded.
http://www.colourikamva.co.za
ColourIkamva is an organisation that works to re-imagine the learning experience in disadvantages schools through;
1.
The physical transformation of the learning environment, co-created with students and educators, giving them a strong sense of pride and ownership over their space
2.
Personal-development workshops, promoting innovative and creative thinking that can foster positive habits to sustain the transformation and explore art as a tool for self-empowerment.
3.
An academic study where we aim to prove the value of an inspiring, uplifting environment on learner outcomes.
Colour Ikageng school transformation from ColourIkamva on Vimeo.
August 14th, 2013
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Kadikoy Istanbul for Muralist fetival
May 18th, 2013
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I am on a 4 month travel , research ,painting expedition /adventure.
Follow the project and my Tumblr for info and updates.
http://thecolourproject.tumblr.com/
&
http://freddysam.tumblr.com/
April 3rd, 2013
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/A WORD OF ART in partnership with our bestest friends GreenPop were just notified that we are one of the winners of the Design Indaba; Your Street Challange http://www.designindaba.com/projects/your-street
We will be using the money to transform the Greenpop Nursery on Mountain Rd Woodstock,with a mural,art installations and a public jungle jim/tree house .
This is me and Misha of Greenpop receiving the prize form the Mayor
April 2nd, 2013
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For WWF to promote Earth hour I was invited to paint 2 murals ,1 for JHB and 1 for Cape Town
This was my first time using all acrylic and no spray
(And the last time i will use sprays)
I hosted a workshop with a group of kids in each city to inspire the artwork
In CT we exhibited all the kids art and projected them over my mural for Earth hour
CT mural was in collaboration with Selah (CT) and REMED (MADRID)
Video by Rowan Pybus coming soon
JHB mural
Image Freddy Sam
CT mural
Images by Freddy Sam
Keep reading →
April 2nd, 2013
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Over the last 3 years i have hosted over 35 artist in residency from around the world with my /A WORD OF ART project.
The last few months have been some very special artists:
JANUARY-
GAIA (BALTIMORE)
JAZ (BUENOS AIRES)
KNOW HOPE (TEL AVIV)
All images from the project here http://www.acrylicwalls.tumblr.com
FEBRUARY-
REMED (MADRID)
http://remed.es/web/
MARCH-
AEC INTERNSIKAZKI (UKRAIN)
See his works here:
http://www.juxtapoz.com/street-art/new-walls-and-painting-by-aec-in-south-africa
NEXT UP-
APRIL
TROY LOVEGATES (CANADA)
April 2nd, 2013
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‘WAYS OF SEEING’ JAN 24 - MARCH 9TH 2013 - The result of a month long painting project in Cape Town and Johannesburg curated by Ricky Lee Gordon aka Freddy Sam (Cape Town) with international artists in residence KNOW HOPE (Tel Aviv), Gaia (NY), and Franco JAZ Fasoli (Buenos Aires) . TRAVEL BLOG: http://www.acrylicwalls.tumblr.com PROJECT SPONSORED BY: The Maboneng precinct, The Woodstock Exchange and /A WORD OF ART. .
View my works in the Catalog online here: http://www.a-word-of-art.co.za/exhibition-space/present-exhibition/
See great reviews of the project here:
http://blog.vandalog.com/2013/01/acrylic-walls-a-love-letter-to-south-africa/
and
http://www.brooklynstreetart.com/theblog/2013/01/21/acrylic-walls-gaia-jaz-know-hope-freddy-sam-in-s-africa/
Below images by Matt Ginsburg
February 1st, 2013
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This morning I was invited to be on the curatorial panel for the Cape Town World Design Capital 2014!
I am honored!
I promise to dedicate myself to doing a good job and only vote for cool stuff that actually benefits us as a society!!
Design for social change gets my vote!
The primary objectives of the Curatorial Panel will be to:
• to assess and review proposals
• develop a dynamic programme
• assist in making connections
• make recommendations to the WDC2014 CEO and Board
The WDC 2014 Curatorial Panel will play an important role in achieving the WDC 2014 Vision of building social inclusion, reconnecting the City in structure and in spirit, and repositioning Cape Town for the global knowledge economy.
The WDC 2014 Curatorial Panel will consist of 10 - 15 members, who will work in different work streams and will include individuals with the following expertise:
• Design practitioners and educators (from the full range of disciplines)
• Community development practitioners
• City/province planners and process managers
• Creative and innovative thinkers and doers
• Dreamers and visionaries
• Networkers and connectors
• Business leaders
• … and some pragmatists too
http://www.capetown2014.co.za/
December 25th, 2012
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Excited about this current painting project I am curating.
Curated by me, Freddy Sam (Cape Town) with international artists in residence KNOW HOPE (Tel Aviv), Gaia (NY), Franco JAZ Fasoli (Buenos Aires)
Johannesburg: Dec 23 - 29 / 2012
Cape Town: Dec 29 / 2012 - Jan 30 / 2013
WALLS / TRAVEL / COMMUNITY / ART / EXHIBITION
Exhibition opens at /A WORD OF ART Jan 23 and runs till March 10
/A WORD OF ART - 66 Albert Rd ,Woodstock Cape Town.
Project sponsored by:
The Maboneng precinct, The Woodstock Exchange and /A WORD OF ART.
Follow the project here:
http://acrylicwalls.tumblr.com/
December 14th, 2012
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During http://i-art-joburg.com/ which I curated with Andpeople we spent a day in Soweto painting in Mambo primary School.
Juxtapoz magazine came along and documented the day.
It made it into the December print issue.
I posted the full feature here:
http://www.a-word-of-art.co.za/a-blog/2012/12/11/juxtapoz-magazine/
December 14th, 2012
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In 1982 Emile YX (Then a school teacher and now legendary Hip Hop activist) wrote a letter to Martha Cooper introducing himself and the small scene here in Cape Town /South Africa.
30 years later i had the privilege of bringing Martha Cooper here for the first time for I ART JOBURG
I got to take Martha to the birth place of SA Hip Hop; Mitchell’s plain introducing Martha to Emile and the pioneers of South African Graffiti, Jammo and Baby.
Martha brought the letter that she saved all those years..
Jammo showed us the very first Graffiti piece in South Africa that he painted in the late 70’s .
December 14th, 2012
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I was recently invited by the Maboneng township art experience to participate in their public art festival held on a street and inside homes in Gugulethu.
Turning homes into galleries.
http://www.maboneng.com/
I painted a mural with the words: “Peace,Love and Creativity”
I was asked by someone to take their photograph standing in front of it.
And then more and more people lined up to have theirs taken too.
I printed out the images and came back the next day to display them in the street and give them to each individual at the end of the day.
(This action was inspired by spending time with Martha Cooper whom always likes to make a copy of the photograph for the person who she documented.)
It started to rain and so a community member took the photos to display inside his house.
I also painted a Springbok on a house with the help of my nose picking assistants.
Here they are painting their imaginary version of my artwork.
Below two images by Rowan Pybus.
December 14th, 2012
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Street dialogue with Paul Senyol.
I started adding some street talk/poetry around woodstock,only to find Paul Senyol adding to my work along the way.
Resulting in street dialogue adding to each work over a few weeks.
Progress images by Klaus Warschkow who documented the conservation.
Check my part of the street talk series here:
December 14th, 2012
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I was selected as part of a list of “11 guerrilla street art greats” on National Geographic,along with Banksy JR Artist Space Invader and Know Hope,,I really don’t think i deserve this at all but its motivating to know that Im being noticed.
Daniel Raven-Ellison who created the listing said: ‘It’s in my nature to enjoy art that amplifies a point of view, allowing it to be “heard” above the din of a loud and busy city.’
See the full listing here:
http://intelligenttravel.nationalgeographic.com/2012/09/20/11-guerrilla-street-art-greats/
October 28th, 2012
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I have been commissioned by the city of Cape Town to paint the Gardens MyCiti Bus station.
Heres the start
More pics to follow this week.
