10 May 2016

Having completed his Form 5 in 2009 and not doing so well with school leaving examinations, Frank Monageng was faced with a challenge of making something of himself and putting food on his plate. With a gift in art and a never die attitude, the young Tlokweng lad is making waves with his paintings and signature name of Frank De Painter. 

Frank indicated that he did his Form 5 at Gaborone Secondary School and since he did not do well in other subjects, art was always one subject he aced and put in extra effort.

“Since my primary school days, I have always loved art and it is something I turned to after my disappointing BGSCE and it has helped me deal with a lot of things and also making a living for myself,” he said. 

He indicated that “his art is oil paintings and he travels the country to capture pictures that he uses.” 

“It is very important in this industry to come up with authentic work and not copy other people’s work then presenting it as your own,” he said, adding that art lovers notice such things. Frank also spoke on the role presentation and professionalism plays in his work. 

“Presentation and professionalism can be the end of you if you do not pay particular attention to them,” he said. 

Speaking on the art environment in Botswana, Frank said there was a lot of talent in Botswana but it boiled down to lack of appreciation and support from Batswana. He said for art to become relevant and important,Batswana needed to stop saying no to projects that were different. 

“We need to create opportunities that will allow for change, and most of all encourage the use of technology. This is what the rest of the world is doing! We hear of electronic expos, video festivals, art fairs, digital exhibitions, public installations, interactive environments and much more happening in country’s around us, and yet, we still continue to live in this safe little African bubble where most of the artworks we see are realistic representations of wild animals or our beautiful landscapes,” said Frank. According to Frank, artists need to make a living and most of their clients are tourists, that often prefer to purchase artworks that would remind them of their travels, but, still artists need to change the habit of finding the same typical “African” artwork at most of our local galleries. 

“I am not saying that African themed art does not require hard work and dedication; however I believe that we do not have to limit ourselves. 

We need to think outside of the box,” he said. He said there were a number of artists that he believes truly stand out and had produced inspirational work, such as Uhuru Kgope, Lesedi Tshenyego, Ann Gollifer and Moses Maaramele to mention but a few. ENDS