Ode to Jean-Michel

This artist paints people, the people whose faces he remembers, people in everyday life, faces of Jazz singers he listens to, images he saw in old family albums, faces that are conjured in his imagination. Luxolo Witvoet paints the ordinary people that fill his world. He places his 'Everyman' on covers of the iconic Drum magazine. This publication leaves an indelible mark on the consciousness of the township community that Luxolo Witvoet himself is a part of. By placing his people in this way he elevates them to the level of celebrity. His stated respect for the work done by the magazine shows that by doing this intervention he holds these ordinary, everyday, working people in high regard.

By placing his people on covers of Drum, which he has prepared, he elevates them to the level of celebrity. His stated respect for the work done by the magazine shows that by doing this intervention he holds these ordinary, everyday, working people in high regard. This body of work is a celebration of the ordinary people like mothers, children, initiates, musicians, schoolgirls, old people, youngsters, fathers, and folk who go about their business in unassuming ways. Luxolo Witvoet makes them the true stars that form real society.