Baba Tjeko

Baba Tjeko was born in Vredefort, South Africa, in 1985 and grew up in Parys, South Africa, where he currently lives and works. Tjeko graduated from the National Electronic Media Institute of South Africa (NEMISA) with a National Diploma in Creative Multimedia, majoring in Advertising Design.

He is a multidisciplinary artist whose practice is centred around the intersection of past and present, exploring materiality and diverse subject matters. His work investigates the tensions between nostalgia and modernity, weaving together his love for vintage aesthetics, historical archives with an interest in technology. Baba Tjeko works with a variety of mediums ranging from charcoal, oil, acrylic, digital illustration and animation.

Known for bold, colourful illustrative designs that are re-imagining the future of Ditema, a traditional mural art in Basotho culture, Tjeko went on to develop a new visual language that fuses a variety of styles to create compelling collage paintings and works on paper. With underlying themes of history, memory, and human interaction, Baba Tjeko’s work challenges modern society’s values and invites reflection on our place in the digital era. In 2025, Tjeko presented new works in an Artist Room at SMAC Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa; with a group presentation at Art Basel Miami (SMAC), Miami, USA.

Selected group exhibitions include: Art Basel Hong Kong (SMAC), Wan Chai, Hong Kong; Investec Cape Town Art Fair (SMAC), Cape Town, South Africa, both in 2026; Investec Cape Town Art Fair (SMAC), Cape Town, South Africa in 2025; with his work featured at the Heat Festival (2025); Hold that Thought, Kalashnikovv Art Gallery & Latitudes Centre for the Arts collaboration, Johannesburg, South Africa and The Un-turning Wheel, 99 Loop Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa both in 2024; Loud and Clear, SMAC Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa in 2023; RMB Latitudes Art Fair (SMAC), Johannesburg, South Africa (2023); Endangered Species, Kalashnikovv Art Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa in 2022.

Tjeko collaborated with Nedbank International Polo in 2022 on their New Mobility Activation. Other notable collaborations include; Stella Artois Africa’s Pure Malt Installation in Durban, South Africa and Nespresso’s World Explorations Campaign in Cape Town, South Africa both in 2021; Stella Artois Africa’s Social Distancing Campaign in Johannesburg, South Africa; MINI Cooper’s Modern African Gentleman Campaign in Johannesburg, South Africa and Channel O’s Music over Everything Campaign in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Simon Stone

Simon Stone was born in 1952 in Lady Grey, South Africa, and currently lives and works in Cape Town, South Africa. Having graduated from Michaelis School of Fine Art in 1976, Stone later continued his education in Italy. Since 1978, he has exhibited widely, both locally and abroad. Stone was the recipient of the New York City Award at the Ampersand Foundation in New York, USA in 1997. Prior to this, Stone was awarded a Lifetime Merit Award from the Johannesburg Art Gallery (JAG) in Johannesburg, South Africa in 1993.

In 2026, Stone will publish an artist's monograph with SMAC Gallery and partake in a group exhibition Art Basel Hong Kong (SMAC), Wan Chai, Hong Kong. In 2024, Stone presented his most recent solo exhibition, Mid Stream at SMAC Gallery in Cape Town, South Africa. Other notable solo exhibitions include a major museum retrospective of Stone’s paintings presented by SMAC Gallery at the Standard Bank Gallery in Johannesburg South Africa (2013), along with a seminal publication on the artist and his works, Simon Stone: Collected Works; Cogs of Mercy at SMAC Gallery in Cape Town, South Africa. Stone published a second book, titled Simon Stone: Sketchbooks 1 –100, (2018); He presented New Paintings at SMAC Gallery in Johannesburg, South Africa (2016); and Both Sides of Now at SMAC Gallery in Stellenbosch, South Africa (2014). In 2020, Stone’s work was included in A Show of Solidarity, a group exhibition in support of the South African Solidarity Fund during an enforced national Covid lockdown, at SMAC Gallery in Cape Town, as well as the Investec Cape Town Art Fair.

Further selected group exhibitions include: Investec Cape Town Art Fair (SMAC), Cape Town, South Africa in 2026; Investec Cape Town Art Fair (SMAC), Cape Town, South Africa in 2025; The Ampersand Foundation Award 21 years celebration exhibition at the University ofJohannesburg Art Gallery in Johannesburg, South Africa; as well as Suitcase Show, a collaborative group exhibition with Galleria Massimo Minini at SMAC Gallery in Cape Town, South Africa, both in 2019; Back to the Future: Abstract Work in South Africa Past and Present I and II at SMAC Gallery in Stellenbosch, South Africa in 2013 and 2015, respectively; Paperwork: an exhibition of Contemporary South African works on paper in Stellenbosch, South Africa (2014); and PAINT I: Contemporary South African painting 2002 – 2012 at SMAC Gallery in Stellenbosch, South Africa, in 2013. Stone’s work has been included in SMAC Gallery's art fair presentations at the RMB Latitudes Art Fair, in Shepstone Gardens, Johannesburg, South Africa; Artissima in Turin, Italy; Miart in Milan, Italy; the Investec Cape Town Art Fair in Cape Town,South Africa and FNB Art Joburg in Johannesburg, South Africa.