Popular local artist Amanda (Ama) Page has announced the staging of her first public exhibition in Botswana since the late 90s.
Her most recent showing was in London’s fashionable Chelsea district in 2002.
Her new works will be on display at Botswanacraft on the Western Bypass from Saturday 30th August through to Saturday 6th September, with a private previewing on the evening of Friday August 29thfrom 6pm till midnight. The opening night has been planned as a relaxing, fun event with live music provided by DJC4 and a cash bar so that guests can enjoy the evening and browse the collection at their leisure.
Ama is perhaps best known for her eclectic greetings cards and T-shirt designs featuring cartoon depictions of local wildlife and rural scenes marketed under the name of Passion Monkey These popular items are sold in stationers and craft shops all over Botswana as well as in neighbouring countries and are easily recognisable with their bright colours and tongue-in-cheek designs.
However, like all true artists, Ama has a more serious side and this major new exhibition will allow her to showcase her non-commercial, creative work. It is a multi-media collection of framed art, comprising oils, watercolours and pen and ink sketches, with a great diversity of subject matter ranging from life drawings, flora, fauna, fantasy, mythology and symbolism and the natural world. This important task of framing each work to best show off the subject matter has been done by Gallery Ann so that every work is complete and ready to be hung.
For inspiration Amanda says she draws on her own experiences and the world around her, affording her an artistic catharsis for the sadness and sorrows of life as well as a medium for sharing proof of happiness, spirituality and enduring human resilience. Good art forces the artist to lay bare their soul to others and for this reason Amanda confesses to a degree of nervousness when exhibiting. Through their work painters and poets alike expose their vulnerability and human frailty but art can also enable them to depict expressions of great joy and hope for humanity. Both sides of that emotional coin are visible in Amanda’s latest collection and visitors will not fail to be moved to both tears and laughter in this honest and open showing.
The popular Passion Monkey website, www.passionmonkey.com ,features all her design work and the site will be updated to incorporate the new collection in September.
