Kagiso Patrick Mautloa

Kagiso Patrick Mautloa was born in 1952 in Ventersdorp, in what is now South Africa’s North West Province. His family moved to Soweto in 1954, where his artistic journey began. He studied at the Mofolo Art Centre under Dan Rakgoate and later continued his training at the Rorke’s Drift Art and Craft Centre in KwaZulu-Natal. In 1992, he left his position as a graphic designer at the SABC to pursue art full-time.

Mautloa is closely associated with The Bag Factory Artists’ Studios in Johannesburg, where he has worked as an emeritus artist. Deeply inspired by the urban environment, his work reflects the everyday life of the city, especially the street culture of downtown Johannesburg. He often incorporates found objects and materials from the city into his art, blending abstraction and figuration with bold colour and textured surfaces. His subjects frequently highlight informal trade, resilience, and the lived realities of urban communities.

A key figure in South African contemporary art, Mautloa co-founded the Thupelo Workshops in 1985 alongside artists such as David Koloane and Bill Ainslie, contributing to the development of experimental and collaborative art practices. He also taught at the Federated Union of Black Artists (FUBA) and played an important role in shaping local art spaces. His work spans painting, drawing, printmaking, collage, and installation.

Recognised as a pioneer of modernist painting in South Africa, Mautloa has exhibited widely in both solo and group exhibitions, with his work held in major public and private collections. In 2019, he received the Helgaard Steyn Award for Painting in recognition of his artistic excellence and innovation.


Reference:

SABC-Art-Admin and SABC-Art-Admin (2025). MAUTLOA, Kagiso Pat - SABC Art Collection. [online] SABC Art Collection. Available at: https://www.sabcart.co.za/kagi... [Accessed 4 May 2026].

Portrait by Kagiso Patrick Mautloa (no date) Strauss & Co. Available at: https://www.straussart.co.za/a... (Accessed: 04 May 2026).

South African History Online. (2019). South African History Online. [online] Available at: https://sahistory.org.za/peopl... [Accessed 4 May 2026].

The Artists’ Press. (2019). Kagiso Patrick Mautloa. [online] Available at: https://www.artprintsa.com/kag... [Accessed 4 May 2026].

Arakcollection.com. (2026). Kagiso Patrick Mautloa | Artists | Arak Collection. [online] Available at: https://www.arakcollection.com... [Accessed 5 May 2026].

Latitudes Online. (2026). Kagiso Patrick Mautloa. [online] Available at: https://latitudes.online/artis... [Accessed 5 May 2026].

Uj.ac.za. (2017). A solo exhibition by Kagiso ‘Pat’ Mautloa - UJ Arts & Culture. [online] Available at: https://arts.uj.ac.za/a-solo-e... [Accessed 5 May 2026].