PRESS RELEASE ___________________________________________________________________ APRIL 2010

Hylton Nel is one of South Africa’s foremost contemporary “artist-potters”.  In 2008, Stephan Welz & Company set a new record for a contemporary South African ceramic with Nel’s piece titled Madonna and Child when the hammer went down at a resounding R104 500. Cats are a recurring theme in his work and the feline forms are glazed and painted with a wilful but engaging oddness. The cat illustrated here is the product of Nel’s sideways view of the world - sometimes funny, sometimes a little sad - an irreverent but intuitive combination of eccentricity and something deeply felt.