NEWS SEPTEMBER 15 2012 City artist’s early …€¦ · forever to convince me.” The piece,...

3NEWS SEPTEMBER 15 2012

City artist’s early present from Beyoncé‘When I was told who bought the painting I couldn’t believe it’SISI LWANDLE

HE MAY never have actuallymet international superstarBeyoncé Knowles, but Brook-lyn artist Dion Cupido got anearly birthday present from her anyway.

Cupido, 38, who has come along way since he was ateenager doing graffiti on thewalls of the Cape Flats, hasemerged as the local artistwhose work caught Beyoncé’seye, and for which she forkedout R25 000 at a city gallery ear-lier this month.

Last Saturday WeekendArgus reported how citygallery owner Charl Bezuiden-hout realised he was sellingBeyoncé a painting only whenhe opened her passport to ver-ify her credit card. She’d

entered Worldart wearing along, flowing robe, her hairwrapped tightly in Arabic fashion and veiled by oversizedsunglasses.

A delighted Cupido said ittook some time to convince himthat he was indeed the artistwho has the town talking withhis artwork, which managed toattract the attention of one ofthe world’s biggest stars. Theartist, who celebrates his birth-day next week, said: “When Iwas told who bought the paint-ing, I couldn’t believe it. It tookforever to convince me.”

The piece, titled Black on

Black, is part of Cupido’s Per-ception of Beauty collection,from an exhibition held in Feb-ruary this year.

Beyoncé’s new purchaseportrays a black model, Jour-

dan Dunn, painted evenblacker in a dark-colouredpaint. Before painting the art-work, Cupido spent a great dealof time researching society’sperception of beauty, and thealteration of appearance to suitthe ideals of beauty.

“I was fascinated by thepainting of models, to changetheir skin colour.”

Cupido followed the story ofLara Stone, a white modelpainted black for a photo shoot.The outcome of the shootresulted in uproar from theblack American community.

“I believe that skin colourshould not be something thatchanges us, we are stillhuman.” Cupido says he is alsoinfluenced by his love formovies, magazines and “whatcelebrities are up to”. He is fas-

cinated by people’s fascinationwith celebrities.

“I enjoy painting celebritiesor scenes from movies. I com-ment on celebrity-hood. Mypaintings comment on celebri-ties and the way we perceivethem,” said Cupido, a self-pro-claimed die-hard Beyoncé fan.

“I was channel surfing justthe other day, and I saw a musicvideo of her (Beyoncé), thenlater a documentary about her.It’s so incredible to know thatshe has something I made.”

In spite of all the excite-ment, however, it’s back towork for Cupido, who has twoexhibitions scheduled for earlynext year.

“It’s ironic that I paintcelebrities and a celebritybought my picture. It’s proba-bly hanging in her dog’s kennel

somewhere right now, but hey,it’s Beyoncé!”

Gallery owner Bezuiden-hout told Weekend Argus lastweek that when Beyoncéwalked in, she was wearingvery heavy make-up: “Her facehad a thick base; I thoughtmaybe she was recovering fromsome kind of surgery becauseof the thing on her head, andthe glasses.”

It was only when she saidshe was buying the paintingthat he realised the signifi-cance of who was in his store.

“I realised she wasextremely wealthy when I sawthe other woman hand her thecredit card to make the pur-chase. She didn’t do anythingherself, everything was done for her by the peoplearound her.”

PERCEPTION OF BEAUTY: Dion Cupido’s Black on Black picturewhich Beyoncé purchased. Picture: supplied

LOVING IT IN CAPE TOWN: Orlando Bloom meets the cast of Biko’s Quest at Artscape. He and Forest Whitaker will star in a movie that explores SA’s apartheid roots. Picture: DAVID RITCHIE

Bloom frustratesand excites fansSISI LWANDLE

HE WALKED into the Biko’s

Quest performance at theArtscape Theatre on Thursdaynight with a small entourage,and settled into the middle row.

Not many recognised him inthe dimly lit theatre, but for die-hard fans the famous actor’schiselled features were hard tomiss.

Orlando Bloom had enteredthe building.

He was first spotted onboard a British Airways flightto Joburg a week ago, as Twit-ter user Kgomotso Mokoenaexcitedly posted a picture, cap-tioned: “Yes that’s me, and yes,I’m with Orlando Bloom :D”

Since then Bloom sightingshave been reported every-where, from Woolworths inKloof Street to Camps Bay’sbeaches – random, unan-nounced appearances often leftfans excited and frustrated.

“I’ve been here for a weeknow,” he told Weekend Argusduring an impromptu inter-view on Thursday night.

He confirmed he was to starin the movie, Zulu, directed byJerome Salle, who was alsopresent at the event.

Both said it’s their first visitto SA. Although they haven’tseen much more than CapeTown, Salle says the city “isdefinitely a lot more interestingthan I thought”.

Zulu is a movie about AliNeuman, a policeman officer inCape Town. He works alongsideBrian Epkeen, a free-wheeling

white officer.They have to deal with

crime in areas of unemployedand under-employed people.

The movie, which exploresSA’s apartheid roots, is quiteclose to home for Bloom. Hischildhood guardian was relativeHarry Bloom, a Jewish SA-bornnovelist who lived in Englandand spent his life campaigningagainst apartheid.

Bloom, who worked and wasjailed with Nelson Mandelabefore fleeing SA, died whenBloom [the actor] was just four.

Salle says he chose Bloomfor the role “because he is agreat actor and a great guy – weshare the same way of workingand same point of view”.

He says Bloom’s co-star inthe movie, Forest Whitaker,will arrive in SA in the nexttwo weeks.

“We will film from Mondaytill the beginning of December…getting some good spring shots.”

Meanwhile, Bloom says heis enjoying Cape Town.

“I haven’t had a chance tosee much yet, but coming to thetheatre has been one of myhighlights. My family will bejoining me soon, so I’m lookingforward to that.”

Zulu will be filmed acrossCape Town, includingLlandudno, Macassar andLanga. The film should not tobe confused with the famous1964 film of the same name,starring Michael Caine. Salle’sthriller is an adaptation ofCaryl Férey’s post-apartheidnovel, Zulu.

Now tat’s a launchNEW YORK: Lady Gagalaunched her debut perfume intypically flamboyant style – get-ting a tattoo while inside agiant perfume bottle.

The avant garde pop starreclined in a replica of herFame fragrance bottle at themasquerade black tie event,where the few hundred guestsincluded Yoko Ono, MarcJacobs, Paris Hilton and Lind-say Lohan, who arrived late.

Inside the bottle, Gaga, in asparkly top, black skirt and redwig, applied make-up andplayed on an iPad. She strippedto her lingerie, took off her wig

and began receiving a tattoo ofthe back of her neck.

She arrived on top of a con-vertible outside the Guggen-heim Museum on New York’sUpper East Side, where sheposed for pictures and inter-acted with fans.

Gaga also debuted a shortfilm for the fragrance in collab-oration with director StevenKlein.

The Grammy winnerreleased her multiplatinumdebut, The Fame, in 2008, fol-lowed by the platinum albumsThe Fame EP and last year’sBorn This Way. – Sapa-AP

NOSE FOR FAME: Lady Gaga arrives for her Lady Gaga Famefragrance launch at the Guggenheim Museum in New York onThursday. PICTURE: AP

With showdown to final four,who’ll be SA’s new Idol?SAMEER NAIK

AND THEN there were four.On Tuesday Khaya Mthe-

thwa, Melissa Alison, TshidiTenyane and Monde Msutwanawill go head-to-head in anattempt secure a place in theall-important Top 3 of M-NetIdols.

The four have been chosenas the very best Idols in seasoneight of the reality TV show.Now the stakes are high. Whowill become SA’s eighth Idol?

Weekend Argus caught upwith the top four – who unfor-tunately don’t include anyonefrom the Western Cape – beforethe showdown.

● Khaya MthethwaAge: 25Home town: DurbanWhat has been

your favourite moment on

Idols thus far?

Gosh there are so many, butif I were to mention one itwould be performance night,after preparing yourself andrehearsing, you do your rendi-tion, and the amazing responsethat comes from people in thatTeatro is too much for words.

Who do you believe is

your toughest competitor in

the Idols competition?

Now I believe the competi-tion is at the place where it isanyone’s game, and I’m at theplace where all three of mypeers are dangerous… So all of

them are tough contenders.Which performance of

yours have you been most

proud of?

Try a Little Tenderness byOtis Redding

Should you win the Idols

competition, what can SA

expect from you?

SA can expect a young, rele-vant and level-headed artist,who will release an albumdirected to the heart and soul ofa man and woman.

What has been your worst

moment on Idols?

Being away from home, andseeing other contestants leave.

Who is your favourite

judge?

Gareth Cliff, I love how hespeaks his mind.

Did you ever think

you would get this far in the

competition, and what was

your initial goal entering

the competition?

I never thought I wouldcome this far, but I have dreamtof winning this competition somany times. But my rationalgoal was just top 18, and gettingthere for me was a big deal.

● Melissa AlisonAge: 23Home town: Port Elizabeth What has been

your favourite moment on

Idols thus far?

Making the top four.Who do you believe is

your toughest competitor in

the Idols competition?

KhayaWhich performance of

yours have you been most

proud of?

Top 6, when I sang Where

have you been?

Should you win the Idols

competition, what can SA

expect from you?

SA can expect awesomemusic and album tours, as wellas unique performances,dancers and all! Also, they canexpect to see me tapping intoother avenues, like acting anddesigning.

What has been your worst

moment on Idols?

My worst moment on Idolswas seeing Shekhinah leave.

Who is your favourite

judge?

Gareth CliffDid you ever think

you would get this far in the

competition, and what was

your initial goal when you

entered the competition?

My initial goal was to makeit to the finish line, but if not,then at least the top three.

● Tshidi TenyaneAge: 28Home town: Thokoza

What has been

your favourite moment on

Idols thus far?

My favourite moment onIdols would have to be the dayof my birthday.

Who do you believe is

your toughest competitor in

the Idols competition?

I believe that I am my veryown competition, running myown race.

Which performance of

yours have you been most

proud of?

Jennifer Hudson and I am

telling you, Whitney Houstonand How will I know, Evanes-cence’s My Immortal, Mary J’sAs, and the latest from TinaTurner.

Should you win the Idols

competition, what can SA

expect from you?

Should I win, SA shouldexpect fireworks from me.

What has been your worst

moment on Idols?

Haven’t had any on theshow.

Who is your favourite

judge?Randal would have to be my

favourite. He is weird [laughs],you never know what to expectfrom him so he keeps us on ourtoes.

Did you ever think

you would get this far in the

competition, and what was

your initial goal entering

the competition?

My initial plan getting into

the competition was to get tothe finals, so I suppose I’m stillheading towards that.

● Monde MsutwanaAge: 30Home town: WitbankWhat has been

your favourite moment on

Idols thus far?

My favourite moments onIdols so far are the photo shootswe had with KFC and Ford,where I was dressed as differ-ent characters.

Which performance of

yours have you been most

proud of?

The performance I am mostproud of so far is the mostrecent performance at theRolling Stones Magazine Top500 Songs (U2 and Justin Tim-berlake).

What has been your worst

moment on Idols?

Being told I was going toleave the show after I had a fan-tastic performance.

Who is your favourite

judge?

The judges can be prettymean at times, so there’s noclearly defined favourite at thispoint. But I would go withGareth for now.

Did you ever think

you would get this far in the

competition, and what was

your initial goal entering

the competition?

Getting this far in this com-petition is a blessing in itself.

LOCAL IS LEKKER: On Sunday viewers will see the top four Idolscontestants. They are Monde Msutwana, Tshidi Tenyane,Melissa Alison and Khaya Mthethwa.

DELIGHTED: Dion Cupido