Wim Botha is awarded the Standard Bank Young Artist Award for 2005
by Kresta Tyler Johnson
A barometer for who is hot and who to watch, the Standard Bank Young Artist Award has jolted previous winners to even higher levels of recognition and acclaim. This year seems to promise a similar experience with the award for visual art going to Wim Botha.
Born in Pretoria in 1974, Botha completed his BA at the University of Pretoria and has leapt onto the art scene only in the past few years. A joint recipient of the inaugural Tollman Award in 2003, Botha has also participated in an Ampersand Foundation Fellowship in New York, as well as holding several solo and taking part in numerous group exhibitions.
Botha translates societal concerns into concrete, three dimensional forms in his work. Drawing from the mundane, Botha reappropriates materials into his own visions.
The Standard Bank Young Artist Awards are held in conjunction with the Grahamstown National Arts Festival where Botha will first show his Award exhibition. The Awards were originally created in 1981, and have been supported by Standard Bank since 1984. The Awards are presented in visual art, drama, dance and jazz, and for the first year there was a posthumous general award.
Other winners were: Mpumelelo Paul Grootboom for drama, Peter John Sabbagha for dance, Andile Yenana for jazz and Ramolao Makhene posthumously for his general commitment to arts and theatre. Individual winners will receive substantial amounts of funding for participation in the 2005 National Arts Festival where they will either mount an exhibition or stage a performance. They will receive a cash prize. Makhene's award will be used towards creating a bursary at the Market Theatre Laboratory.
The intention of the Awards is to recognise 'South Africans of a relatively young age who have demonstrated exceptional artistic promise within their discipline but who have not yet achieved extensive national exposure'. It has, in the past, significantly raised the profile of its recipients.
