22/09/2026
👨🏿🎨🎨Artist Spotlight: Lesego Moncho
What happens when you refuse to let the world beat the artist out of you?
For Lesego Moncho, art has never simply been a hobby. It has been part of who he is—and at times, something he had to fight to hold onto.
His connection to creativity began in childhood. Two of his uncles were mbaqanga musicians in the 1960s, and Lesego grew up surrounded by music and creativity. He also began drawing at primary school, although his love of art was not always encouraged. In fact, he was repeatedly punished at school for drawing.
The murals he saw growing up in his village during the 1970s became another important influence, planting early ideas about the power of visual storytelling.
Lesego is a self-taught visual artist. After leaving school, he worked at the mines for a few months and used his earnings to buy brushes, pencils, paper and Masonite board. He then began teaching himself to draw. Later, he bought art books and started studying the elements of art on his own.
Over time, this developed into a distinctive abstract and Cubist-inspired style.
His paintings are built from fragments of memory—old village life, music, dancing, crafts, celebrations, ploughing and harvesting, street carnivals, people and the atmosphere of the 1970s. Lesego describes these memories as coming to him in "bits and pieces", which he then transfers onto canvas as abstract compositions.
His aim goes beyond simply recreating what he remembers.
He wants his work to make people think differently, look again and ask questions.
Lesego prefers oils on canvas, although he has recently worked more in acrylic because of health considerations. Given the right ventilation, he hopes to return to oils.
One of the most fascinating parts of his process is that he doesn't begin with sketches. Instead, he works directly onto the canvas as the memories and images come to him.
For Lesego, the moment when those broken fragments of memory begin taking shape on canvas is one of the most rewarding parts of creating.
His work is also deeply connected to culture. He has a strong interest in Indigenous Knowledge Systems and wants to bring those ideas and stories to wider audiences, particularly during challenging economic times.
His own story contains an extraordinary twist.
Lesego says, quite candidly, that art cost him his Matric—and a wife.
After being severely punished with a rubber whip at high school, he left the school system rather than allow it to "beat the Art out of me." He continued teaching himself and eventually built an art gallery in his village.
Today, the very schools that were once part of that difficult chapter now bring their visual art learners to his gallery for research and school projects.
His work has since found its way into significant collections, including the University of North West Art Gallery, William Humphreys Art Gallery, the Development Bank of South Africa, the North West Provincial Art and Culture Department and Art Bank South Africa. His murals can also be seen at Taung Community Hospital and various local schools.
And if Lesego had to describe the spirit behind his work?
Perhaps he says it best:
"Watch out for the cross breeding of Pablo Picasso and Cecil Skotnes."
His dream is to see his gallery fully furnished and operating at an international level, while participating in international art fairs and cultural exchange
For now, he is working towards funding and sponsorship for cultural exchange programmes and touring solo exhibitions.
There is certainly no shortage of determination.
Lesego's advice to younger creatives is simple: perseverance, self-esteem, self-love and appreciation—and above all, focus.
His art began with memories, survived opposition and grew into something that now gives those memories a place to live.
Visit our website for more information about his artwork:
https://www.kunyeartfoundation.org/?product_cat=brian-lesogo
