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Photo AlchemyThe workbenchCollage and montageCut and rebuiltAfrican Art FusionWith Simon ShoneA weekend away in September 2020, a walk at last light, and a garden bust of David in broken sunglasses and a wire head scratcher, held hostage behind a farmhouse near Wolwefontein.
Martin Osner · Stories behind the art
They say you can find an acre of diamonds in your own back yard. In this case it was somebody else's.
It was September 2020, and we were in the last weeks before opening our new gallery in Woodstock. The first wave of Covid had passed, but the strain of it hadn't, and after another run of late nights fitting out the space we were finally ahead of schedule. I felt my family and I needed to get away, even if only for a weekend. A quick break in the mountains, some time together, and perhaps, as a bonus, a new print or two for the opening exhibition in October.
I sat down to book somewhere, sure there would be places to spare. Boy, was I wrong. Place after place was fully booked. It seemed the whole of Cape Town had decided to head for the countryside that same weekend.
Then a gentleman with a self catering unit in the Karoo phoned back to say he could take us for a few nights. I love going to places I have never been, so without so much as looking the area up, we paid the deposit, packed the car and headed north.
About fifty kilometres from the farm, the mountains fell away and the land flattened into the wide, dry Karoo, as far as the eye could see. Lovely in its own way, but I quietly realised that photography might not be high on the list this time.
We turned onto the property and followed a dirt road down to the farmhouse. Quiet, peaceful, good for family time, and that was about it. So we unpacked, opened a few cold beers and settled in for the afternoon.
About an hour before the light went, I went for a walk to see what I could find. A path led me around a small hill and into the back yard of the owners' home, and there I stumbled onto a scene that made no sense at all.
In front of a little red outbuilding with a pale blue door, on a concrete pedestal, stood a bust of Michelangelo's David, one of those copies you can find in most garden shops. He was wearing a pair of glasses with one lens blacked out, and on his head was what looked from a distance like a wire hat. Up close, it turned out to be one of those wire head scratchers. Odd, I know. But beautifully, accidentally creative.
I didn't ask too many questions. I went straight back for my camera and tripod. No extra lighting, just the tripod to help with the fading light. One composition, one frame, done and dusted. Dawid was coming back to Cape Town.
Later that weekend the owners told me how David came to be there. Years before, when they still worked in the corporate world in the city, the statue stood in a company office as its proud mascot. After a disagreement, they took him with them. Kidnapped, you might say.
So now he finds himself out in the middle of the Karoo, martyred on a pedestal a short walk from the main house. And to make matters worse, whenever the old subject comes up in conversation, poor David is taken out for a little target practice.
And the head scratcher? Oh no, the owner said, that was left behind after a rave party. All very mysterious, and totally creative.
So where do the wolves come in? David was being kept hostage near a place called Wolwefontein, the wolves' fountain, so Dawid van die Wolwe, David of the Wolves, felt only fair.
The lesson? Simple. Don't title your photographs after a couple of beers.
Dawid first went on the wall at our Woodstock gallery in October 2020, and later moved with us to Montagu, to the gallery at Bloupunt Winery. That is where something happened I hadn't expected. People read his story and came back for him. Visitors phoned ahead to ask if he was still there, and when they arrived, out came the phones for a selfie standing next to David of the Wolves.
He is a printed photograph of a ceramic bust, but somehow he has become a character in his own right. Kidnapped, exiled, used for target practice and still wearing his glasses. You can't help feeling a little sorry for him.
You are invited to come and take a selfie with Dawid at Osner Gallery in Hout Bay, and post it to be entered into the draw to win a signed A3 limited edition print of him to take home.
After a few years in storage, Dawid van die Wolwe is back, as the 100 × 77 cm limited edition print. He will be on show at Osner Gallery in Hout Bay from Saturday 28 November 2026 until 9 January 2027, at Resonance, an art exhibition of new work by Samantha Lee Osner and me. He has been through enough. He deserves a few friends.
1. Come to Osner Gallery in Hout Bay while Resonance is on, between 28 November 2026 and 9 January 2027.
2. Take a selfie standing next to Dawid.
3. Post it on Instagram or Facebook, tag @osner_gallery and add #DawidVanDieWolwe. One entry per person, however many selfies you post.
The prize is an A3 print of Dawid, signed and part of the limited edition. Something very special. The draw takes place after the exhibition closes on 9 January 2027.
Martin Osner
Sold through Osner Art Gallery online, shipped worldwide, and shown in person at Osner Gallery in Hout Bay.
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