Kobeli, Eli

Eli Kobeli was born in 1932, in Kroonstad, South Africa. Died in 1999. Eli lived in Kroonstad, the town of his birth, as well as in Alexandra and Soweto suburbs of Johannesburg. Some refer to him as the ‘Chagall of Soweto’. The works on this site seem to justify this tag in many ways. Like Chagall, he experimented with freely-arranged areas of abstraction which incorporate figurative elements that vary in scale. Furthermore - there is no sense of perspective or gravity in his works, which seem reminiscent of this artist’s playful spirit. Children playing in an urban landscape is a similar exercise in using abstraction as a basis for a representational image. In 1958 he started studying at the well-known Polly Street Art Centre (an art school started by Cecil Skotnes whose aim was to train young, underprivileged South African artists). Kobeli received further training from Rev. Hall Duncan, together with Ephraim Ngatane. He exhibited in various South African galleries; and in the UK, USA and Botswana.