Artist Database

Nelson Makamo is a celebrated contemporary South African artist, best known for his vibrant portraits of children. He was born in 1982 in Limpopo Province and is currently based in Johannesburg. Makamo received his formal training at the Artist Proof Studio where he studied printmaking between 2003 and 2006. Since graduating, Makamo has experimented with numerous artistic mediums including charcoal, oil, and watercolour whilst developing his own unique and distinctly recognisable mark-making style. Makamo observes the youth in the city around him, creating compelling mixed media portraits of everyday people in an urbanised landscape that reflect the energy of the city and the cross-cultural influences he experiences. His portraits of children display a strength of emotion and hope whilst celebrating the joy of childhood. In a feature in TIME magazine, his work was described as ‘the Art of Optimism’.

Makamo was the recipient of the Johnson & Johnson International bursary and was awarded the Rise Art Award for Drawing in 2018. He has exhibited extensively in South Africa, including the Ten Years of Printmaking exhibition at the David Krut Print Studio in 2006, in Europe, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America. His work is featured in several public and many prestigious private collections worldwide.