Gerald Tabata (b.1975) attended the Thupelo International Programme, Cape Town, South Africa in 2005. 

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Gerald Tabata was enamored of art from young age and was trained in a variety of disciplines including sculpture, photography and painting, which he took to immediately.
Tabata participated in the Community arts project (cap) between 1988 and 1990 where he received further mentorship and training and became an artist in residence at Greatmore Studios in 2004, where he participated in number of group exhibitions and solos.

Artist statement:

" To love art truly means to improve life"

 

Tabata’s history places him firmly within the framework of his artworks speaking to place, time and social politics. Whether waiting for a taxi, walking down the street, or waiting for the world to turn, Tabata captures these moments like a visual story-teller or documenter.

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 The subjects that people his canvases, although framed by circumstances of poverty, carry on about their business of life; while some of the figures have become reduced to an anonymous symbol, they are not a caricature. The subjects do not engage with the viewer, in many instances, the subject has their back turned, or is walking away, out of the picture frame, excluding the viewer from the narrative of their life.  Tabata states, “As artists, we stand for the people, we are the voice of the masses, we can not keep quiet or pretend things are ok whilst they are not. We  should  expose  poverty  and  make  it  our  responsibility  to  let  the  world  know  our  backyard problems.” 

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Working in a refined, painterly technique with a thoughtful use of colour, Tabata is concerned primarily with evoking the mood and atmosphere of the township scenes synonymous to African culture. Critics have commented that his work has the touch of Rembrandt; with seductive impasto paint, he sculpts figures using colour sparingly. Gerald has found himself a studio in Observatory, Cape Town where he lives out his childhood dream of being an artist.  

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List of solo shows and group shows:

"Farrago A.V.A gallery, group show, 2006.
Celebrating 10years of Democracy Everard Read
gallery, group show,2004.
Thuphelo International workshop, group show 2006.
"iDiski",JArt gallery, solo show, in Wembley
square,2010(world cup)
"Eleven solo exhibitions", IArt gallery, 2009.
"Ubuntu bethu", Casa labia, two men show2011.
Solo show, Casa labia,2012.
"Art on paper", in the U.K, group show.
Two men show, in Finland, 2016.
'Drought, Artvark gallery, group show.
Group shOws, in Kalk bay Modern gallery
USAID, group show,2007.
"isibane", group show, at Look out hill, in
Khayelitsha,2007.
Solo show, Lerotholi gallery in Langa, 2020.

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