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WILSON NGONI

Amongst the most popular contemporary artists in Botswana is Wilson Ngoni, well known for his Dali influenced pieces and his famous "Pregnant Skeleton" painting. Not content with only being avant garde, this artist is prolific by local standards producing more than a whopping 280 paintings a year. Wilson does not remember many of the paintings he has done because of their sheer numbers, so once a year he does one monumental painting that sticks to his memory. This year he will be exhibiting his works at the National Museum for the Annual Botswana Artist of the year competition. On the 20th  of July he plans to represent Botswana in Zambia, and currently has work exhibited in Philadelphia, USA. Besides giving his viewers mind stimulating artwork, Wilson also fancies himself a writer, always having deep philosophical explanations to his paintings. He believes many people are like cartoons, "having circles around but having nothing inside." When he gets down to religious paintings he seeks to make it a "personal union with him and his God", though he says he only sees the inside of a church once a year as a token of his "efforts". Wilson often uses women as the subjects of his paintings, sometimes in the nude, which he explains as his appreciation and respectful adoration for the female figure. He has a belief that if "we are to fix things in this world we must begin by respecting our mothers and sister at home. If you can do that, then you know that you are a man." He therefore shuns pornography and thinks it is sad that Africa is getting deeply involved in it. One of the gifts Wilson is endowed with is a photographic memory which he says helps him when painting natural scenes from memory. He also recollects his dreams which he transforms into Salvador Dali like Surrealism. This is where "the Pregnant Skeleton" falls in. What is most amazing is that Ngoni did not go to school to acquire his aerial intelligence. He has by trial and error come up with a distinct Botswana style, which his fans have termed "Meleko". "The only similarity between my paintings and those of others is that they are all made of paint." "If art can be given full support in Botswana", he says, " it can bring in more money than diamonds, tourism and agriculture put together". Wilson claims painting alone is a career than can satisfactorily sustain an artist's livelihood. "In life I can have enemies, but they will always fall in love with my work." Wilson says. True to that ,is the sum of his work used in books, magazines, movies, schools and other places that testify to the love people have for his artistry. He feels that the moment he finishes an artwork it is no longer his, but for the rest of the world to view, analyse and give it name according to their interpretations. Commenting on one of his experimental works (a white piece of board with four real bananas on it) he said, "I am not a very faithful person- to women, people, and the way I dress... even the way I think changes. But right now, what I know for sure is I’m faithful to bananas. I love bananas.” As for the cost of his paintings, he says he does not have a piece that is below P1 000.00, though people have complained about a certain work that he had put at a price of P185 000.00. He says the museum officials took him aside and advised him to lower it to P10 000.00! "You can say my work had the depreciation of the Zimbabwean Dollar," he laughs. Wilson's reason for putting that particular artwork's price that high is that he claims his work usually has deep, hidden meanings which he does not normally reveal to other people unless they consult him or guess. He sometimes paints "roses spinning and some of them end up bursting, which is usually how love goes." Ngoni sold his first painting for P7 when he was doing his form 1, but he says he does not remember when he started painting just as he does not remember when he started talking. Winning is important to Wilson Ngoni but he says this time he will only win if the judges understand his work. "If the judges are blind then there is no way of me winning," says Wilson. "They never reveal to us their criterion for spotting the best work." He believes that biased judgments might stunt the growth of art in Botswana. When asked where he envisions the placement of his work in people's houses he said, " I always envision a ceremony first. When my work arrives the buyers host a party. They then put it somewhere where they can show off to their visitors. I think my name is becoming a label now." By: Albert Lekgaba

 

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