Art (verb): to continuously bring into being new forms of engaging with the world.
Contrary to popular belief, art is not a noun but a verb. It is an action, persistent and unrelenting, that requires dedicated agents for its production . Art is not limited to a physical or conceptual framework, it is a continuous collaboration between actors and spaces. Yearly, Flight Logistics - a courier service and one of Undiscovered Canvas’ sponsors - actively engages in the redefinition of spaces and modes of artistic production, through their initiative #ArtonWheels
Launched in 2016, #ArtonWheels Vehicle Wrap Public Art Program spotlights contemporary visual artists by wrapping their art on courier vans. Together, artist and collector, reinvent the artwork in both its form and function. According to Flight Logistics, #ArtonWheels is “the perfect opportunity to showcase different artists and styles of art and actively help make it accessible to a wider audience” (Flight Logistics, 2022). #ArtonWheels focuses on promulgating underrepresented and marginalised artists and broadcasting their works to a diverse, inclusive, audience: everyone.
The winner of this year’s 21st #ArtonWheels competition was Undiscovered Canvas’ very own Lesego Seoketsa. Seoketsa joined us at Makwande Art Residency last May 2022, where she debuted and completed her latest collection “Awaken”. Awaken is both a tribute to the emancipatory and transformative role of adornment and aesthetics, and a plea for South African women to enjoy comfort. To revel in opulence and tranquility. Seoketsa’s artworks demonstrate the centrality of jewelry in women’s self expression through the extravagant dress or gold earrings donned by her characters. However, Seoketsa also valorises the importance of immaterial luxuries, such as time. Veiled in suppliances for abundance and peace, is a reminder to be present. Her message is immortalised on #ArtonWheels 21st wrap: “Stop running from the present…Now is the best place to be”.
Lesego Seoketsa is Undiscovered Partner’s third artist to collaborate with Flight Logistics. #ArtonWheels 21st wrap, is a dare to live and to be awakened by the beauty of being.
Written by Jean Sheila Messi
Liberal Arts and Sciences undergraduate