South African artist Johann Moolman lives and works as a full-time art maker, in the small rural village of Groot Marico, situated in the North West Province, near the Botswana border. As most mainstream contemporary art is made in, and is fed by urban concerns, the geographic influence on Johann Moolman’s work is of relevance. Marico is a point of confluence between industrial and pre-industrial society, Africa and the First World, the primordial and the sophisticated present. From within this situation of contrasts and opposites, Johann Moolman’s work sources both a rural, as well as an urban spirit and imagery, often juxtaposing the two or cross fertilizing different ideas to create new or unexpected transformations.
