Casper takes on the canvas
JOBURG - South Africa's one man show pioneer shows the world that he has a serious artistic bent
Stick to what you know is not something comedian Casper de Vries ascribes to.
He stunned the country when he decided to start painting two years ago.
“Rumours started to spread as soon as I mentioned I was going to leave the comedic Casper behind and start painting,” he said.
De Vries explained that he first discovered he could paint when he visited a friend in Rosendal in the Free State. De Vries decided to arrange his first art exhibition after he had completed 40 paintings.
“The opening day took place on 20 February at Emperors Palace and the reaction of the crowds surprised me,” said the comedian.
He paints nature scenes, self-portraits and abstract work that depict characters and family members who are significant to him.
Back home in Weltevreden Park, De Vries takes it easy with his two dogs Kent and Elfrida. These dogs are not only De Vries’s closest companions but they also played various roles in his last one-man show Casper Goes Khaki.
“I would just like to apologise to my neighbours, because once or twice a week the dogs run around the suburb and socialise with all their doggy friends. I suspect some of my neighbours are not happy when this happens.
“What these neighbours fail to understand is that if an apocalypse were to happen then all of the animals would already be acquainted with each other.”
Casper fans will be delighted to hear that the comedian is planning a couple of TV shows and also wants to star in different types of movies. He said he will perform one-man shows again but he wants to focus on the other aspects of his life at the moment.
“All of my one-man shows still need endings, so fans need not be worried,” he said.
The comedian thanked all his fans for their support during his art exhibition – he sold most of his painting during the course of the week.
“I was stressed at first because I thought people were not going to pitch for the show because they might think that I’m just using my status and my name to promote my work and that I’m not any good. But the sales figures showed a different story and I’m happy with the way everything worked out,” he said.
De Vries added that he is going to continue to paint and express himself on canvas and said he might tour with his paintings.
“I am going to have a different set of paintings for every town or province I visit. If, for example, I should be visiting the people in the Free State, then I would take along nature paintings and paintings of cows and donkeys,” concluded De Vries.
