Speaking about his work at this year’s opening event and award ceremony on 10 November, the up-and-coming artist said he is fascinated by the human figure and that he attempts to capture some of the complexity of the body and the enigmatic power which human beings possess. “This series of 15 artworks explores human connection against the backdrop of an ephemeral world of light and shadow. Working on a large scale is crucial to my creative process,” he said
The fact that he had to wait two years for his “moment” had an up-and downside. “On the one hand, it gave me more time to prepare, but, on the other, I found it difficult to source art material during Level 5 of the lockdown, which was a bit of a setback.”
In 2019, he added his name to the impressive list of winners of the prestigious art competition with a work that had an interesting take on load shedding, Stage 4 moments. In this painting, he captured the typical behaviour of his family during load shedding and the artwork celebrated the fact that all electrical devices are set aside during these blackouts, allowing the family to interact with each other, face to face, to talk, laugh, and play games.
The modest Rulore was born in Johannesburg in 1995 and now stays in Hammanskraal. After matriculating in 2013, he started an art company producing art portraits. He completed his National Diploma in Fine Arts at TUT in 2021 and has exhibited widely and participated in several group exhibitions. His work was selected for the Top 100 of the Sasol New Signatures art competition in 2017 and 2018. He was also selected for the Top 100 of the Thami Mnyele Fine Arts competition in 2017, received the Painting Award in 2018, and was selected for the Top 15 in 2019.
Rulore is currently working on several other solo exhibitions which will take off from next year.
Asked about the role the Faculty of Arts and Design has played in his career as an artist, he said: “I was just a street artist when I enrolled at TUT and am very privileged and proud of my education at the University.”
The Sasol New Signatures art competition is the longest-running competition of its kind in South Africa and has become a platform for unknown artists to break into the mainstream art stage. Sasol has sponsored this important art competition for over 30 years and has launched the careers of many household names in art currently working in South Africa and globally.
Pfunzo Sidogi, Chairperson of the competition and Head of TUT’s Department of Fine and Studio Arts, said: “Our Department is extremely proud of Rulore’s achievements. He has produced a powerful and poignant body of work for his first major solo exhibition, which has been received with critical acclaim.”
The overall winner of the Sasol New Signatures art competition for 2021 is Cape Town-based Andrea du Plessis. Her winning work, entitled Paloceae Lupantozoa, consists of a painting created through the traditional oil on canvas technique that can also be experienced as a multi-sensory animated video through a mobile phone-based app. It is the fourth time that she entered¬ the competition – this time around bagging the top prize of R100 000 and a solo exhibition as part of next year’s event.
The winning works, as well as Rulore’s exhibition, will be displayed at the Pretoria Art Museum until Sunday, 9 January 2022.