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nelson mandela bay's family lifestyle
author:
theunis pienaar
three dimensional life
photography:
zuko, lifegate photography
issue:
7, spring 2008
“I would like to think that my work says: life is beautiful. That everything is possible and if you can see it in your mind’s eye, it can be done.” In the quiet neighborhood of Charlo, surrounded by family residences, we stumble across an unobtrusive art gallery and the artist's studio of sculptor Frans Boekkooi. Here we enter a fantastical world, filled with nostalgia and mesmerizing flights into an innocent imaginary world. Frans grew up in the home that now houses the studio where he spends most of his days creating beautiful and meaningful works. Looking at his art, this cannot be fortuitous. His wife Heidi runs the adjacent Kühne Boekkooi Art Gallery and together they raise their three children on a farm in Sardinia Bay. It was only in 2001 that Frans staged his debut solo exhibition, but his liaison with art reaches far back into the seventies – perhaps even into the fifties and sixties, should his genealogy be taken into account. Frans' father was member of the popular sixties Boekkooi Trio and later went on to teach music at the local university. His mother's “art” has more to do with words – teaching “Afrikaans/Nederlands” “You don't imagine becoming an artist, when you are small. You're not even concerned with becoming anything. You just live and enjoy whatever is captivating. As long as I can remember art was just that to me.” Then Frans recalls winning the art-trophy in primary school, along with his mother's pride and his parent's encouragement. “You see?', they said to me. ‘‘You are really good at this.' “I was about fourteen when I was introduced to sculpting. I started attending art classes at the Russell Road College. It was awesome in those days – they had the most talented people teaching us. Maxie du Plooy, Pine Pienaar and Anton Momberg all had a massive influence on me. I couldn't wait for Saturdays to come. They broadened my horizons – opened up a world I've been dying to be saturated by. Life, however, is not one-dimensional. Many more elements than our love or even passion guide us into our futures and often we take interludes that may seem frivolous, but prove to be vital in sculpting who we are and what we become. “I was thinking career and future and responsibility – all those solid things we are taught. Architecture spelt all of that – at least, I comforted myself, there would be some aspects of creativity to appease my soul and I would be able to continue studying design under Anton Momberg's tutelage.” This bout of responsibility lasted a single year and as life was in those days, conscription demanded that a young man, who completed school and did not continue at tertiary level, should become a soldier, before entering the workplace. Frans spent two years in the infantry corps before returning to art. “It was at the Russell Road College that the world of sculpting initially opened-up for me, so returning there was the most natural choice. Most of my mentors were still in residence, enabling two years of escape into the world I wanted to inhabit. From the College I continued to the then PE Technikon, as some of my mentors had also migrated there. This was an overwhelming time of innovation, invention and experimentation.” The spell of obligation and restraint had for Frans not subsided, though, despite the wonderful years immersed in art. “As I finished up at the Technikon the questions started haunting me: so what are you going to do now? How are you going to earn a living? My answer was leaving for Cape Town finding occupation in digital animation.” Eventually Frans and two collaborators set-up an independent Stellenbosch based company, doing freelance digital three dimensional animations for corporate partners. “It was great and I learnt a lot. Even now you might notice a lot of movement in my sculptures – the dynamism and detail I am able to capture is directly related to my experience in the digital world. “During this time the haunting of my love for sculpting grew stronger, as I famished it and ultimately overpowered all the doubting questions that led me into a career that would provide a living. “It is curious that once I blindly ignored the fear that had kept me away from art, it proved to be unfounded.” “In 2000 Heidi encouraged me to enter my sculpture ‘Higher Education' into EPSAC's (Eastern Province Society of Arts & Crafts) Annual Exhibition. It is a boy sitting on a high chair, paging through a book. The sculpture received the prestigious 'Best on Show award. Now, finally, I do art and a living innately flows.” “Every now and then we abscond to Nieu Bethesda in the shadows of Compassberg. There, at the old blacksmith's house, inspiration locates me with ease. My sculptures feed off the nostalgia of innocent times, lost in thought or activity. Sometimes they even embody the thoughts or pictures born in a moment – but every piece has meaning. To me, at least, they speak.” Many of Frans' sculptures bear coloring that might remind of sepia photographs discovered in a box at the bottom of grandmother's cupboard, reinforcing the idea of nostalgia. Some consider his work to be realistic and although most often they contain a lot of detail and are easily recognizable images, I experience them more as remembered moments. “Perhaps a sculpture would not be a single specific moment, but a blend of moments or thoughts that are remembered as one.” “I would like to think that my work says: life is beautiful. That everything is possible and if you can see it in your mind’s eye, it can be done.” This is not only the whisper of Frans Boekkooi's sculptures - it is the persistent gossip about the man who shied away from an artful life, but now have works featured in collections across the globe and is often commissioned by architects, designers and art lovers who want an exclusive and personal work of art. “Life is not flat & simple. It is three dimensional – perhaps even more.”
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