User:Paquito228/sandbox

Benjamin Mzimkulu Macala was born in Bloemfontein, Orange (Now a free state. He was born in 1938 and died in 1997. He was a cattle tender as a boy and spent his free time stone carvings. He was mainly self taught as an artist. He studied for a few months under Cecil Skotnes at Jubilee Art in 1964. He also received instructions from Bill Ainsle. He held 13 Exhibitions from 1967-1985 in South Africa, Europe and in the US. His preferred medium for drawing was pastel on paper [1]. The huge black eyes of his figures reflected some of Picasso’s portraits such as his self-portrait at 25 years old.

Ben was also a sculptor. He held his first exhibition of terra-cotta and bronze sculptures in the Lidchi Gallery during mid-November in 1967. Ben was inspired by the sculptures of Michel Angelo and Rodin. He was also inspired by the drawings of Leonardo Da Vinci. [1] Sack, S (1988). The neglected Tradition, Johannesburg: Johannesburg Art Gallery This source

[2] https://www.art-archives-southafrica.ch/PDFs/Ben_Macala_ARTLOOK_12_1967.pdf Ben Macala-Artlook 12-November, 1967

This source is relatively old as it was published when Ben was about 30 years old. It provided an insight to his inspirations.