Dario Manjate was born in 1972 in Maputo, the capital of Mozambique, but has lived and worked in Johannesburg since the mid-1990s.
He established himself as a painter there, but because he could no longer afford oil paint and other materials, he began experimenting with collages of magazine clippings he received from everyone in his circle. The wall of bookshelves in his studio in Victoria Yards is practically overflowing with thousands of magazines waiting for Dario's scissors.
"I recycle magazines and other printed materials people normally throw away. That's an important aspect of my work," he says.
His motto: "Our society is built around consumerism; humanity is constructed from the very items it creates." To emphasize this, he often incorporates expensive objects such as watches, cars, interiors, etc. into his life-size collage portraits. His models are people from his circle, whom he draws on the canvas with pencil as a basis before pasting his carefully selected clippings.
Dario essentially paints with clippings. Zooming out, it resembles a painting, but as you get closer and zoom in, it becomes a dizzying array of diverse objects and texts. A fascinating work that constantly reveals new things and continues to amaze you!
