Titus Matiyane

Titus Matiyane is a sculptor, artist and musician who lives and works in Atteridgeville, a township near Pretoria, South Africa. He is one of many artists whose relationship to township life and the expanding urbanism of the modernist capitals of South Africa produced a particular fascination with both the growth and the transformation of these urban environments. Matiyane makes drawings of cities and landscapes. The large-size panoramic landscape drawings are emblematic of his obsession with the built environment and modern cities. The wide format of his ’bird’s eye’ panoramas (6, 12, 24, 46 x 1.5 m) is intended to mesmerize and compel the viewer towards Matiyane’s personal sense of technical and visionary skill. This book focuses on seven panoramas: Pietersburg, Durban and Pretoria in South Africa, London, New York-Manhattan, Hong Kong, and Rotterdam-Amsterdam. Annemieke de Kler describes his background. Melinda Silverman analyses the works from an architectural and urban point of view and Stephen Hobbs reveals the artistic context of Matiyane’s work.