Biography

Born in Soweto, Gauteng in 1995, Betinho Mokwane completed his third year at Artist Proof Studio (APS) in 2019. Mokwane has been involved in various corporate commissions, translating printmaking into relief-carved murals through Special Projects at APS. He specialises in combination printing techniques, including monotype, screen printing, etching, and linocut, and has expanded his skills into designing silkscreen prints for t-shirts and bags as a side business.

Mokwane has exhibited at several art fairs and exhibitions with APS, such as the Turbine Art Fair (2018/19), the Legacy Exhibition (2019), and TAF Art Fair (2021), in collaboration with Strauss & Co. He was awarded the Ubuntu Student Award in 2020 and 2021, nominated by APS staff and students. Mokwane also participated in fundraising for the Desmond Tutu Foundation in collaboration with Strauss & Co, selling an artwork at auction. His work featured in an Absa Online Exhibition (2021) and various art fairs, including TAF, Art Joburg, and the Investec Cape Town Art Fair (2022–2023). In 2023, his work was part of the "Art Start" group exhibition at Victoria Yards, with proceeds supporting Timbuktu in the Valley. Currently, he is a Marketing Assistant at APS while actively pursuing his art practice.

Artist Statement

My work explores my relationship with the urban landscapes of Johannesburg and Soweto. I am fascinated by how these landscapes shape, reflect, and translate human existence and experience. Influenced by street art, I am drawn to the surfaces in my surroundings—under highways, on bridges, pavement corners, and abandoned buildings—where the colours, marks, and textures create a form of visual communication.

These textures and marks originate from the layers of human and natural interaction, capturing how urban surfaces age, deteriorate, and evolve based on their geographical location. This dynamic speaks to our human existence, embodying identity and diversity within the spaces we inhabit.

In my work, I use contrasting colours—both synthetic and natural—and a combination of hand-made marks and industrial traces, such as spray paint splatters, to narrate my contemporary relationship with Johannesburg and Soweto's urban environment.