Tony Gum, young artist from Cape Town
Mother, Black Coca Cola Series.
Statement:
Pin Up, Black Coca Cola Series.
Free Da Gum II.
Free Da Gum I.
Spilt Milk, Milk in Africa Series.
Stay Tuned Stay Blessed.
“Personally speaking, I am very influenced by politics and social issues, especially within my own country. I’m a Freedom Baby, but there are also a lot of post-freedom, post-apartheid issues that we are dealing with as Freedom Babies. Learning about my history, or the history of oppression—I started learning about Black Consciousness around 17 years old, and prior to that, I didn’t know why we weren’t being taught this in high school, or even primary school, because it’s such a vital thing to learn for the importance of being proud, instead of always being taught, This is what happened, we were oppressed, okay, great. But we were never taught about being conscious, about being proud of being black. Once I started learning about it, I was like, Woah, that’s amazing. You can take a sensitive topic and make it something that is artistic. You can make it beautiful. That’s what I want to do with my work, because these issues are real, and I’m not the kind of person who will falter. If it’s happening, I want to talk about it.” (from LostWkND, Issue 1)