Young artists go public

CitySkin aims to make the private public. The collective of 10 young local and international artists living in Cape Town is focusing on the potential for social growth and education through public art.

CitySkin formed out of Cape Africa Platform’s (CAPE) open studio programme of 2006, where urban space and geography were primary areas of focus. These young artists from South Africa, the United States, Democratic Republic of Congo and Zimbabwe saw the need to address the issue of public and historical spaces, which became recurrent themes during the studio programme.

‘There are so many restrictions to art today — not everyone goes to galleries or museums, and its potential is so huge,” says 29-year-old Unathi Sigenu, a founding member of CitySkin and a visual artist with a love for ceramics. ‘Visual images are a language that everyone can understand, and they inspire thought.”

The colourful and proactive group operates out of their studio at The Loop, a building in the CBD of Cape Town. On any given day, a handful of CitySkin artists will be working on a painting, sculpture or mural from early morning until late into the night. Their studio is stacked with found objects, and that day’s incarnation of an on-going sculpture. The atmosphere is open, creative and focused.

For some of the younger artists of the group, the CitySkin studio is a place for experimentation and growth they have not had before.

‘It is kind of weird, actually,” says Themba Tsotsi, a 25-year-old writer from Gugulethu who joined CitySkin in February. ‘They paint and I watch them paint, and I am not sure yet how it will affect my writing. But, for the moment, I am working on a video.”

Tsotsi has written a few scripts before, but has never made a video. Together with Sigenu, he will create a video installation for CAPE 07 that addresses the issue of alcohol abuse. Tsotsi and Sigenu have asked a filmmaker who is part of The Loop collective to give them a few pointers. This is the creative attitude of CitySkin that fosters individual development through the arts as well as challenging and inspiring public thought.

‘I am concerned about the age we live in, and want to bring back the communal aspect of our country, working cohesively, realising what enriches our country,” says Sigenu.

As artists more often than not struggling to make ends meet, the group aims to make a statement about the importance of the arts, and the artists, in society, and what art can offer as a sector of the economy.

‘I piece things together, selling pieces, et cetera, and I am not willing to compromise what I love to do,” say Sigenu. ‘I have faith in what we are doing, working for society to start to take art seriously, and artists as people who play a role in society. It is not just about pleasure fulfilment.”

‘The group is still in its infancy, and is open to how it will evolve and what it will become,” says Kevin McCauley, a 37-year-old American artist who worked with the studio programme in 2006 and is the coordinator of CitySkin. ‘The goal is that CitySkin will become a viable business. On a practical level, the group aims to work as a network hub, overseeing and outsourcing work brought to them, thereby promoting artists in the public domain, while at the same time, it will be able to create its own projects and art.

‘I think if I had to label it I would call what we are aiming for a ‘Public Space Design Firm’,” says McCauley.

CitySkin finds its support primarily from CAPE and the Community Health Arts Trust. It is currently working on a mural at the Brooklyn Chest Hospital in Milnerton, Cape Town, in collaboration with the trust. Several CitySkin artists are also exhibiting their work at CAPE 07.