Legato Motaung Wins the Emergence Art Prize 2020

Image: Lerato Motaung, Day's Eye, 2020,  Oil on canvas, 120 x 85 cm

The Emergence Art Prize announced Legato Motaung as the winner of its 2020 Edition. ⁠⁠ Lerato Motaung (b. 1991, Katlehong, Germiston) is a visual artist based in Johannesburg, South Africa. Following his training in drawing at the Johannesburg Art Gallery in 2008, and in sculpture at the Katlehong Art Center in 2009, he received his Diploma in Fine Arts in 2015 from the Tshwane University of Technology in Pretoria.

⁠The winner of the competition, Lerato Motaung (b. 1991, Katlehong, Germiston) is a visual artist based in Johannesburg, South Africa. Following his training in drawing at the Johannesburg Art Gallery in 2008, and in sculpture at the Katlehong Art Center in 2009, he received his Diploma in Fine Arts in 2015 from the Tshwane University of Technology in Pretoria.

Lerato Motaung, Day's Eye, 2020,  Oil on canvas, 120 x 85 cm

For his primary means of expression, mixed media paintings, Motaung draws inspiration from his memories informed by his life experiences in three different environments: the metropolitan area of Johannesburg where he lives and works, the suburban ambiance of Katlehong township, and the rural North West Province where he grew up.⁠

The Emergence Art Prize received 184 entries from talented artists working across disciplines and mediums, and we'd like to thank everyone that entered and supported the competition. 

A special word of thanks to Rand Merchant Bank for their support and to our judges including Ashraf Jamal, Azu Nwagbogu, Carolynne Waterhouse and Bettina Nampé. 

The prize includes an exhibition at THK Gallery in Cape Town, a two month residency at the innovative Quartier am Hafen Studio House on the banks of the Rhine in Cologne, Germany, in June and July 2021, and an R80 000 cash prize, a portion of which will go towards airfares and a stipend while the artist is in residence.