Porky Hefer

It’s the future of the next generation that I am concerned about and the state of the world they inherit. Looking after our animals and Earth is one thing but also the preservation of human skills, crafts and traditions,” says Hefer. “I think it’s important to show what beauty humans are capable of with their hands rather than the destructive mass production that technology is driving the modern consumerist society towards.

South African artist Porky Hefer was born in 1968, in the era where Radical Design emerged with futurist-designed environments and objects that were more than a chair or a table – pieces that would assault your eyes and also your spirit. It was during this time that Wendell Castle and Joe Colombo made units of self-sufficiency to isolate and change experiences completely. It opened up horizons and possibilities that fulfilled more than simply a basic need to sit. An exploration into perception and natural instinct, Porky Hefer’s work invokes a new discourse around the sensibilities of handmade design, the joy of child-like reception and the transformative effects of meditation. With drama and intrigue, Hefer’s pieces challenge us to shed what is learned for what is inherently and unconsciously known – to examine our responses, preconceptions and limitations. Here lies an opportunity to reconnect the senses, embrace visceral reactions and to welcome an innocent, open-hearted awe.Hefer is South Africa’s 2013 Design Foundation Icon Award Winner. His first solo show, Monstera Deliciosa, Volume I, was presented at Southern Guild’s Cape Town gallery at the end of 2015, garnering rave local and international reviews, which led to a solo exhibition at R & Company in New York in 2017. Hefer also represented South Africa with Southern Guild at the inaugural London Design Biennale 2016.