“Mandela: A Life’s Journey”: a private viewing of an incredible art collection brings

“Mandela: A Life’s Journey”: a private viewing of an incredible art collection brings

new insight into Nelson Mandela’s life

 

The inspirational life of Nelson Mandela forms the basis for an extraordinary art

collection that show cases the story of a deeply-beloved South African icon. Circa on

Jellicoe, one of Johannesburg’s most exciting urban art galleries, was privileged to

host a single private viewing of this collection, namely John Meyer’s “Mandela: A

Life’s Journey”. Held on the 23 rd of February 2017, the evening, which was in support

of the Nelson Mandela Foundation, allowed guests to enjoy these powerful and

thought-provoking artworks before they embark on an international tour that will

include some of the artistic capitals of the world.

 

The series is on loan from a private collection owned by Andrew Dunn, CEO of

Richmark Holdings, and each of the 16 pieces are works in acrylic and sand on

canvas. Dunn commissioned the series from renowned South African artist John

Meyer, whom he considers to be one of South Africa’s greatest living artists. The

series took three years to complete and the result was a heart-warming and

descriptive look at Madiba’s life. The private viewing resulted from the recognised

need to show off the magnificent art pieces to South Africans before the world tour

begins. According to Dunn, “John is a living legend who has painted for the Queen

of England, Paul Allen of Microsoft and many more world and business leaders.

Thus, choosing him to help fulfil my dream of owning a collection based on the life of

Nelson Mandela was an easy decision.”

 

For Meyer, Nelson Mandela’s rare and universal influence challenged him to raise

his game and reach new levels artistically. Meyer explains of his work, “I want to

explore the private world of people’s lives, the enigmatic unexplained and hidden

emotions.” Having met Mandela on several occasions, Meyer has always been

struck by his saintliness and the fact that he has served as a rallying point for all the

world’s dispossessed. He did, however, try to avoid politics in the series, aiming

rather to capture Mandela’s humanity.

 

Mark Read, owner of Circa, notes that CIRCA has curated some of the most

intellectually stimulating exhibitions to be shown in contemporary South Africa. He

comments that, “At Circa, we seek to hold exhibitions that cause people to think

about our wonderful country, to question its past and ponder about the future that lies

ahead.” For him, the showing of this collection was a great honour: “This very

tantalizing brief showing of 16 miraculous paintings is the story of our continent’s

greatest human icon painted by the best realist of his generation. What gallery

wouldn’t be proud to show that?”

From Left 
Mark Read (Circa Gallery), Andrew Dunn (CEO Richmark), Sello Hatang (Nelson Mandela Foundation), John Meyer (Artist) 

From Left
Mark Read, Christine Read, Andrew Dunn, Jeanne Dunn, Sello Hatang, John Meyer, Gillian Meyer 

Andrew Dunn (CEO Richmark), John Meyer (Artist)