Nelson Mandela

Art Description

Nelson Mandela was a civil rights leader in South Africa. He fought against apartheid, a system where non-white citizens were segregated from whites and did not have equal rights. He served a good portion of his life in prison for his protests, but became a symbol for his people. His popularity eventually led him to become president of South Africa.

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David X is a mixed media contemporary artist who creates striking paintings fusing Eastern and Western artistic traditions. David X started studying art when he was 7 at after-school art classes with peers nearly 3 times his age. This experience kick-started the mental and physical database of references that he continues to draw on for his paintings today.

David X was diagnosed with leukaemia in 2002 but was given life through a successful bone marrow transplant. In 2017, doctors detected a recurrence which left him with less than one year to live. David X felt compelled to create 365 inspirational paintings during the last year of his life. When tests eventually revealed that leukaemia had not returned, and his life was no longer threatened, he challenged himself to continue the paintings to fulfill his dream and inspire hope. His works are mainly portrait paintings of well-known figures, both historic and contemporary.