Is it a bath? Or a work of art?
Well, the sculptural marvel unveiled on Wednesday evening, it’s both — a statement piece in which you can soak yourself in artistry, quite literally.
An intimate soirée, held at a chic décor showroom in Wendywood, Johannesburg, marked the launch of the Elemental Fusion Collaboration — a novel concept that merges fine art with luxury bathware, all in the name of a good cause.
The centrepiece?
A striking free-standing bathtub, hand-painted by fine artist Azael Langa in collaboration with a high-end bathware brand famed for its quartz-crafted designs.
Sipping on bubbly, the well-heeled crowd took in the unusual work, which was created in Azael’s distinctive smoke painting technique and stays true to his interest in celebrating “the gogos on the street selling pap to feed their families”.
“With smoke, I have never painted on a rock, and a bathtub is like a rock. This took me back to the work of the San artists, who were known for their rock painting,” he said.
In this case, he said, “it is a collaboration in the way of giving back in style” — a charity auction will be held next month, when a number of hand-painted tubs will go under the hammer.
Moving onto the source of the unusual canvas, I meet Heinlene van den Berg, sales manager for the South African company whose natural-stone-look creations grace bathrooms from Cape Town to Cannes.
Heinlene gestures to an imposing 200kg round slab, divulging that a seven-star Dubai hotel has ordered one for each of its 280 rooms.
Then there’s the Magnolia, a wingback-shaped model which caught the eye of another international luxury retreat. Price tag? Not much change from R42k.
However, if you’re the sort of person who would rather drop your randelas on designer swag instead, Thursday evening saw the opening of the new offshoot in Dylan and Matthew Bolus’s high-end streetwear empire.
The city’s cool set flocked to the brothers’ sleek Hyde Park Corner store where Moschino, Alexander Wang and other designer labels vied for attention.
I found myself marvelling at the buttery softness of an olive-green lambskin leather biker jacket from Dsquared2 — costing more than that Magnolia bath.
Also checking out the threads was Theo “Mr Slimfit” Baloyi, who ditched his usual tailored suits for a more relaxed look in keeping with the store’s aesthetic, and DJ and producer Vanco, whose distinctive house sound has earned him a legion of fans from Ibiza to Bali.
Vanco, who was set to hit the decks in Asia and Dubai a few days later, was joined by Didi Khunou, the vivacious actress starring in the newly released romantic comedy This Scam Called Love.
Then along came the country’s cutest farmers, Sandile Mahlangu and Mbali Nkosi. The celebrity couple shared that their egg-laying operation has grown significantly since our last chat.
“We have 3,000 chickens now,” Mbali revealed.
And as for the food? At the bathtub launch, guests were served individual plates of assorted hors d’oeuvres rather than the usual pick-and-choose canapé trays.
But at the store launch, while the cocktails flowed, bites were scarcer than DA support for Enoch Godongwana’s VAT mini-bump. So on my way home I made a detour to that fancy grocer-meets-petrol station in Rosebank ...
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