When Kenneth Alexander picked up a paintbrush in high school, he knew exactly what he was getting into. “In my day, art was a jobless situation,” he says. “It was a penniless one that was not rewarded.” His parents did everything they could to deter him. After all, how would a young boy from the Cape Flats get people to buy his art? “Only I believed in myself,” Alexander says. “Even my teachers didn't believe that I could make it.” Decades later, he’s proving them wrong.
For 42 years, Alexander painted and sketched on the side while working as an architect. Although he had nowhere to exhibit, he kept growing his artistic portfolio. “I knew I couldn't give up,” Alexander says. “When something is birthed within you, it has to come out.” Now, he’s a full-time artist creating nostalgic watercolour landscapes and fine line drawings of Cape Town. From the city’s diverse buildings to the people Alexander encounters, his work is all about local pride.
“I believe that art needs to be where the people are,” Alexander says. In 2018, he founded a gallery in his hometown of Athlone where creative spaces are lacking. Art in Athlone also offers painting classes for children to unearth their talent. “I want to give people the opportunity that I didn't get,” Alexander says. “A little bit of encouragement could be the catalyst to make kids' dreams come true.” He will never allow another child to bury their passion. “If you have a dream worth fighting for, fight,” Alexander says. He did, and the outcome is beautiful.
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