First Published in
The TAXI art book series by David Krut Publishing, initiated in 2000, plays a key role in South African arts education. Offering verified information about contemporary artists, the books are also accompanied by an educational supplement for the teachers. Thus, the artists chosen as topics are immortalised in the minds of young artists for decades to come. It is fitting then that Helen Sebedi be the subject of the 14th Taxi art book – lest even I had forgotten about her. In fact, I had not heard of her before reading the book and judging by the standard of her work – a deliciously modernist, hard-to-contextualise mash-up of township realism – and her remarkable endurance as a black artist during apartheid, I am embarrassed to admit that. Written by Juliette Leeb-du Toit with an introduction by Andries Oliphant.
