Strip
Art Project
17 January 2006 19h00 – 11 February 2006
A collection of comics by
Daniël du Plessis, Leonora van Staden and Nicolene Louw
Opening address by Anton Kannemeyer
The Strip Art Project was founded in 2003 by Anton Kannemeyer, senior lecturer in the Department of Visual Arts, University of Stellenbosch. From 2003 to 2005 Daniël du Plessis, Leonora van Staden and Nicolene Louw were closely involved with the project. All three artists are currently finalising their Masters degrees in Illustration and this exhibition constitutes their final year exhibition.
Daniël graduated cum laude in graphic design from the Tshwane University of Technology in 2002. He has received two special mentions in the
Africa e Mediterraneo comic competition. His comics have been published in
Bitterkomix 11 (2001), Bitterkomix 13 (2003), Bitter-jusi 2 (2004), the
Africa e Mediterraneo catalogues, the French collection BD Africa (2005) and several independent local publications (such as
Spilpunt). His comics were serialised in SL magazine from June 2004 to November 2005. Daniël has participated in group exhibitions in Durban
(Black + White in Ink at the NSA gallery in 2002) and Johannesburg
(Comics Galore Festival of International Comic Art at Art on Paper in 2002).
Leonora and Nicolene, both lecturers in Illustration at the Stellenbosch Academy of Design and Photography, graduated in Graphic Design at the University of Pretoria in 2001. In 2003 they founded Stripshow magazine, the first South African comic magazine devoted exclusively to the work of women contributors. The second issue of Stripshow followed in 2004.
Nicolene produced the comic strip Just Talking for the Mail and Guardian Leisure magazine during 2004 and 2005, and has published widely in South Africa. Her publications include children’s books, educational illustrations and comics for local publishers such as Lapa, Macmillan, Maskew Miller Longman and Nassou. Her work also appears in
Bitter-jusi 2 (2004) and the Africa e Mediterraneo catalogue of 2003.
Leonora works as a freelance illustrator, designer and part time lecturer. Her commercial work includes educational illustrations, comics, book covers and websites. Her work has been published in
INSIG magazine, Bitter-jusi 2 (2004) and Bitterkomix 11 (2001), among others. She recently completed an illustration project in co-operation with the Shuttleworth foundation.
As part of the Strip Art Project, Daniël, Leonora and Nicolene produced a manual on social grant allocation procedures for the Department of Social Development in 2004 and participated in group exhibitions in Portugal, Angola and Switzerland during the course of their Master’s studies.
Their comic work focuses on complex social issues and may be considered in the context of contemporary literary European comics.
