The 10 best living artists in South Africa

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The 10 best living artists in South Africa. 16 By Andries Loots 9 July 2000 This week artist Neil Rodger is featured.

John Neil Rodger ( 1941 - )
Born in Mowbray, Cape in 1941 Neil Rodger is a talented and versatile artist working both as a painter and sculptor. His sculpture is usually of women and the medium is bronze, wood or ivory. He paints landscapes on canvas mainly in two categories: realistic Eastern Cape landscapes where he lives; and vivid surreal scenes, made up from his imagination. Others are rural settings, or architectural dreamscapes, typically with the female form in the front or background. He also magnificently portrays farm animals like bulls, pigs, horses, sheep and dogs. He is also one of the country's best portraitists and spends time each year abroad painting commissions in the UK, Europe and America. His portraits have a remarkable likeness of the subject and also convey the character of the person through the fictitious setting, clothing and jewellery.
Studies: 1961-63 and 1966 Michaelis School of Fine Art, Cape Town 1963-66 Rijks Academie voor Beeldende Kunsten, Amsterdam 1981-82 Rhodes University, Masters Degree in Fine Art, ( cum laude ) Profile : 1968-74 - Member of the Grahamstown Group 1966-67 - Part-time lecturer in drawing and painting at the Cape Technical College 1967 - Art Teacher, Wynberg Boys High School, Cape Town 1968-74 - Lecturer in Fine Art, Rhodes University 1974-81 - Lecturer, then a senior lecturer in fine art, Port Elizabeth Technical College 1981 - Full-time artist 1980 - Member of the selection board of the King George VI Art Gallery, Port Elizabeth 1963-66 - Traveled throughout Europe 1971 - Worked and traveled in United Kingdom, Netherlands and Spain 1986 - Worked and traveled in United States of America and England 1987 - Texas, United States of America where he did some portraits 1988 - United Kingdom and Switzerland painting portraits Exhibitions : He has participated in numerous group exhibitions in South Africa the USA and The Netherlands since 1968 1968 - Grahamstown, first of six solo exhibitions 1981 - Republic Festival Exhibition Permanent Exhibition at Everard Read Galleries, Johannesburg and Cape Town Awards : 1982 - Five Roses Young Artist of the Year Award, Grahmstown Arts Festival.

Represented : George Municipal Collection King George VI Art Gallery, Port Elizabeth SA National Gallery, Cape Town University of Pretoria William Humphreys Art Gallery, Kimberley Public Commissions : Portraits of Mayors, Port Elizabeth Numerous portraits for educational institutions and large companies. Quotes from the artist : "I recently made a trip to Italy, re-awakening a passion which I conceived upon my first visit there as a student. Some of the works on this show are directly inspired by Rome, Pompeii and Herculaneum, while others show, I believe, an intensification of the mood I have long sought in my work. None of the Italian pictures are in any way topographical in the sense of being views of the places they represent, but are rather composites of existing and invented elements in the manner of a capriccio. I believe very strongly that pictures need no commentary by the artist, and do not propose to provide any. The only concession towards public explication of my work that I make is that I set out to create a climate rather than convey a message. Further than that, my work must speak for itself."
- Art & Artists of South Africa, Esme Berman, ISBN 1 86812 345 6 - The Dictionary of South African Painters and Sculptors, Grania Oglivie, Published Everard, ISBN 0 620 12663 9 - Info by Everard Read Gallery, Cape Town, ctgallery@everard.co.za