el ARTefFECT

BIO: tony swift

 

Tony Swift is the medium through which his universe communicates.

His life's work , a sharing of all that is beautiful, striking, memorable, haunting and magic in this world. The interpretation of reality he creates through his skill is rare.

 

Abstract Realism is not merely a concept or technique used, but a realtime journey through a range of emotive experiences whether it be through his pointed and subtle poetry, vivid and symbollic paintings, sharing his experiences of humanity and multiple cultures, his life-like sculptures, drawings, etching and print runs or reading his childrens stories and other publications.

This experience is real.

 

About Swift

Tony Swift is an extremely versatile artist who works in a variety of media in an “Abstract Realist” style of unique intensity. He utilizes different emotions and energies in the fluctuating inconsistencies of daily life, constantly creating a variety of moods from joyful humour to intellectually challenging concepts. His multiple images simultaneously combine and integrate the polarities of abstraction and realism.

The range of thoroughly researched drawings, paintings, etchings, linocuts, and sculptures reflect a deep respect for the subject and media, an understanding of change, direction and speed which all result in images of power, beauty and skill, be they highly perceptual or purely abstract. The intensity of his brilliantly coloured landscapes Manteku Series are echoed in the symbolism of his abstracts: Boings and Old Shoes.

 

The economy of line, intensity of texture and sensitivity of hue combine to form a more than usual illusionary sense of depth that creates vistas, form and space, vast miniaturist horizon lines and wide angled views.

The psychological portraits and socio-political paintings like Farewell Boet (Wooltru collection), Under the Boerboonboom; Paranoia or Cycad Thief all undermine the subtleties of the mundane, the ordinary becomes extraordinary.

The vast selection of subjects range from his early series of Settlements, Papagalo Restaurant, Piano, Wildcoast, Eastern Cape, Multiple Images, Botswana and the Church Series to his later works of the Eastern Cape, Raglan Road, Chobe River, Okavango, Shoe Abstractions, Xhosa Mural paintings, Abakweta and Rock Art Series. His more recent work includes the Islands Series, Journey to Kimberly and Wild Horses of Namibia (exhibited at the Karib Arts Festival as guest artist of The William Humphry’s Art Gallery - National).

 

His consecrated sculptures of the Crucifix permanently adorn three Order of Ethiopian Churches while his secular sculptures are being withheld for a major exhibition in the future although exhibited at the Grahamstown Festival in 1996, Cyler Street Gallery in 1997 and invited Standard Banks’ Craft Art in Wood exhibition in 1998. The sculptures in indigenous wood are mainly life-size realistic figures of power images, composed in actions of extreme tension in the realm of distortion and highly polished.

His work is published in A Selection of Eastern Cape Art by Helena Theron and he is mentioned in South Africa Art and Artists by Esme Bergman and Dictionary of South African painters and sculptors by Grania Ogilvie.

He has already published 3 anthologies of his own poetry, Rock Art Research, Xhosa Mural Paintings. ‘The Grand Piano’, ‘Green Boots’ and ‘The Juicy Jelly Fish 1-10’ are ready for publication and he is presently compiling ‘The Rites to Manhood’ and ‘Crossing the Cultural Divide’.

 

Born in Cape Town in 1951, Tony Swift married Marion van Soelen in 1973. They have 2 sons. He obtained his Masters Degree in Fine Art from Rhodes University and a Secondary Teachers’ Diploma from the University of Cape Town. Head of the Art Department at Cambridge High Schools 1974 - 1985 he was appointed Principal of the Johan Carinus Art Centre in Grahamstown 1986. After 20 years as principal he resigned in 2006 to continue his art full-time. His students can testify to his humanity and uniqueness. His studio-home that he designed and built with his own hands right at the Mgwalana River Mouth is an ordinary beach house that encompasses an organic architectural space of human comfort, intellectual vastness and environmental respect. His 17 Spring Street Studio Gallery (Recently Sold) and Barrack Row Studio Home likewise reveal innovations in the restoration of old buildings and gardens. He has recently been commissioned to design a number of hotel complexes as the conceptual architect.

He has exhibited with the Grahamstown Group, East London and Eastern province Fine Art Societies, GAP and the Art Centre staff. Major group shows include the Cape Town Triennial, the Republic Festivals 1996 and 1981 where he received an honorary commendation from international art writer Edward Lucie Smith. His solo exhibitions in Grahamstown during the National Arts Festival remain popular with art lovers and have increasingly attracted the attention of connoisseurs, intelligentsia and collectors.

Walking into a gallery of art by Tony Swift one is attracted to his celebration of life, his energy, his sensitivity towards the subject that makes each work unique and moving. To live with one of his exquisite creations provides growing appreciation, continuous joy and intellectual stimulation