DAVID KOLOANE, who died last year at the age of 81, produced work that shines with a rare glow of truth which will stand the test of time. Some of it can be seen in the exhibition of his work currently online at the Goodman Gallery in London.

Koloane grew up in the Johannesburg township of Soweto and although he’d been drawing since his schooldays, he recalled: “I was a late starter. I never knew that black people could become artists ... I was amazed to discover that black people were allowed in art galleries.”

Apartheid is at the root of his work, with his subject urban life as experienced by black Africans and modernism frees him to express oppression and resistance with a rare passion and subtlety which avoids simplistic didacticism.

He conveys the multilayered moods of city life with joyful marks from a paint-laden brush and fluid oil pastels which echo the inventiveness of free jazz. Layered and repeated forms suggest insistent energy.

Koloane recalls that Soweto’s residents called it Dark City because there was no electricity and packs of malnourished feral dogs plagued the townships.

The simplified forms and diversities of scale in this painting appear deceptively child-like but they are based on detailed observation and are carefully composed into a strong horizontal and vertical framework.

The human figure is central to it because, as he explained: “Work has always revolved around the human condition because of the oppression under apartheid.”

Koloane’s sincere and poetic works are visually exhilarating, while conveying serious meanings. Born of oppression, they bear witness to social and political injustices while expressing respect for collective resistance.

This article is based on an abridged version of Christine Lindey’s interview with David Koloane: https://mstar.link/DavidKoloane. David Koloane: Something out of Nothing can be viewed online until August 27, visit https://mstar.link/SomethingoutofNothing