Frank launches his ninth collection titled Art is a Drug
Frank de Painter recently unveiled his ninth art collection. A few months ago, he was part of a group exhibition that showcased their work at Thapong Visual Arts Centre in Gaborone under the theme My Story. He tells Vibe that after the group exhibition he started working on his new collection titled Art is a Drug. He explains that he chose this title because he feels that art can be hell like a drug because like drugs, once you explore art, there is no turning back. “The good thing about art is that you get hooked forever and in a positive way. Understanding art is knowing art,” he says. Frank says that he came up with this title when he was watching a Rick James interview about how he and the Murphy brothers used to get high and doing some crazy stuff at the peak of their career. “At the end of the interview, he said: cocaine is a hell of a drug and then laughed. That made me think of a picture I had on my phone that read: Don’t buy cocaine, buy art. I took all of that, flipped it then came up with this title.” Frank boasts eight collections since he burst onto the art scene in 2009. His first collection, Art of mona-dilo was launched the same year. He says that at the time he was still discovering himself as an artist. “I was finding my feet as a painter but then in 2012, I created another collection titled The A.R.T. of painting which I went on to exhibit at the No. 1 ladies Coffee House. That was my first solo exhibition,” he recalls. He says that the commission he earned contributed significantly to his next collection, This Is Art, which he released in 2014. Later on, in the same year, he had his second solo exhibition at Alliance Francoise de Gaborone titled This is A.R.T exhibition. He says that the success of this exhibition made him work harder and spurred him to present other collections such as That’s art, Purple print story of my life, Purple print-reloaded, Purple print-redefined and The definition among others. Frank has been trying his luck with Thapong Artist of the Year Awards (TAYA) and he says he hopes to walk away with an award this year.