CURATORIAL STATEMENT
LETHABO GUMEDE
How do you know when someone is sad? Cameroonian based artist Marcel Tchopwe gets up close and personal with his latest series of artworks that are concerned with the plight of unemployed graduates – an issue all too familiar in South Africa.
Tchopwe is no stranger to illustrating and translating human emotion. In the early stages of his career, he focused his subject matter predominantly on capturing children’s expressions. This, he articulates as being the most authentic form of human emotion. His intention to represent not only the emotion but also the psychology of a portrait is most apparent in his generous use of composition. With each painting, your gaze is directed, with minimal distraction, to the subject at hand which fills the canvas almost entirely.
Having taken an abrupt shift in careers from Engineering to art, Tchopwe has benefitted from being a student of both mentors and life. Being a full-time artist has certainly brought him closer to the human condition, which is why he feels it important to reflect his reality and the reality of those around him. Speaking on his latest body of works, Tchopwe shares the frustration of how many of his peers are qualified Engineers or Doctors but they are not employed.
And so, in reflection, being an artist enables him to be a vessel for society’s joys and worries. How people feel and wear an emotion such as sadness requires much observance, much stillness and much solitude. In addition to the emotions, Tchopwe accompanies his paintings with bold colours and iconography that is popular in the West African region. From large umbrellas, motorbikes or MTN signs. These icons define his style in a way that make it easy to resonate with his work.
In addition, as an artist, it is important for him to speak to the broader socio-political issues not only of Cameroon, but of the African continent as a whole. He is deeply passionate about the African continent and insists that there is no shortage of rich and sustaining resources in Africa. His parting words at the end of our interview were as follows: “If I can give advice in terms of young artists, you need to know that no one will give it to you. You need to get it (for) yourself. You will need to trust what you know, if you want to grow”
And I couldn’t have said it better myself.
