Art, history and the digital future

An Eastern Cape artist has blended Christian iconography, contemporary South African stories and AI in a bold exhibition of engaging pieces currently on exhibit in Cape Town.

In The Stories We Tell, a solo exhibition by East London-born Simon Venter, 28, oil paintings are informed by generative AI and Biblical imagery is reimagined in a modern way.  

Venter, who lives in Gqeberha, refers to himself as a self-taught artist and has been practising professionally for eight years.

After matriculating from Maritzburg College in 2015, he obtained a BA Honours in media studies and then graduated with a Masters in creative media production from Nelson Mandela University.

“I interrogated how artistic technique could be challenged by generative AI yet not be overcome by it”, he says.

And so, although generative AI was central to the creative process, it was not a replacement for painting, but rather a tool that helped him reshape composition and atmosphere.

His signature oil paintings are a captivating intersection of human talent, sacred tradition, contemporary life and technology and are a compelling examination of our evolving relationship with technology.

Venter’s achievements include participation in the Nando’s Creative Exchange 2022 programme, including an exhibition opportunity at the RMB Latitudes Art Fair.

The Daily Dispatch asked him:

Please tell us about your use of religion in your pieces.

I use biblical references to tap into archetypal stories of suffering, resilience, and transcendence, so as to reimagine them through a contemporary lens to question how faith and myth continue to shape meaning in today’s technologically driven world.

And because the South African public largely professes to be of some Christian persuasion or another, these references are ones which can resonate with a wide spectrum of potential viewers thus making the work accessible on one level and hopefully thought provoking as well.

Does it come from a personal place; from your own faith?

Yes, it does come from my own Christian faith as well.

What inspired the idea of merging religious iconography with South African scenes? Can you give an example or two of how you did this?

I was inspired by the once common practice of taking inspiration from the Biblical narratives for the creation of artworks which resonate with the environment that the artist finds himself in. For example, the Martyrdom of Nongqawuse, is inspired by the story of the Xhosa prophetess who prophesied (in short) that if the Xhosa people sacrifice their cattle they will rid themselves of the British invaders. This did not come to pass and actually proved a hindrance to their fight against the British and Nongqawuse had to flee for fear of her life.

She was never martyred but I thought it would be interesting and provocative to imagine a piece inspired by her story and by the tradition of Christian art depicting the martyrdom of saints.

The piece Adam takes its inspiration from the Biblical story of Adam and the fall of man and then looks at the South African context by way of reference to the Voortrekker Monument — a symbol of both Afrikaner Nationalism and a peoples’ formation of a new identity and culture.

The purpose of this piece — and much of my work — is to provide viewers with an opportunity to think beyond their temporality and to hopefully grasp at something transcendent. As such the work is not meant to be viewed as didactic or that I am endeavouring to tell the viewer what they ought to believe.

Please explain how you use AI and how it enhances your work.

I use AI, specifically image generators, as a means to challenge my own preconceived compositional ideas that I have in my creation process so that I do not fall into a habit of churning out work which becomes simply self-referential. That is, genAI acts as an accidental mark which I then contend with by way of my artistic technique to avoid monotony. In that way it enhances my work.

Some purists may frown on the use of AI in art; that it may be replacing the creativity of art with technology. What would you say to them?

I would agree if all you are doing is using genAI to generate images or videos which you then claim as your own. Not only is it not your intellectual property, the artefact would not in fact have any evidence of your potential artistic technique.

Can you explain the process of how you merge oil painting and AI in your pieces?

I merge AI and oil painting by using AI-generated distortions and chance-driven imagery as provocations, which I then translate into paint. This dialogue between machine output and my intuition creates fractured, layered compositions that reframe sacred iconography within a contemporary context.

Does the Eastern Cape inspire your work?

The beauty of the Karoo and the wide open sky of Gqeberha with its epic clouds inspire me.

You are described as a self-taught artist. How did your art journey come about?

While I studied graphic design in varsity and took art to matric, I describe myself as ‘self-taught’ simply because I did not receive any formal post-matric training at either an academy or university art department. I did and still do, however, spend a lot of time watching tutorials online or looking at books on academic drawing and painting so as to improve my skill.

Are you able to make a living as an artist?

At this stage I do not make my income solely from my art. While it does form a sizable portion of it, I also lecture part-time so as to provide myself with consistent financial stability. 

How do you feel about this solo exhibition?

I am very excited to be having my first solo show in Cape Town, especially after I had already had a solo at the Oliewenhuis National Art Museum in March this year, and I have just come back from a month-long artist residency in August at the Witklipfontein Eco Lodge hosted by the South African Foundation for Contemporary Art. So all in all it has been a very good year for my artistic practice. 

The Stories We Tell exhibition is up from October 2 to November 18, 2025 at Sisonke Gallery, Cape Heritage Hotel, Bree Street, Cape Town.