Displaying a stunning image of Nelson Mandela from the cover of The New Yorker on December 16 2013, a tribute issue published a week after his death.
The Huffingdon Post reported the upcoming cover on May 12 2013 and had this to say about it: “The cover is entitled, “Madiba,” Mandela’s tribal name, and is the artwork of author and artist Kadir Nelson. Nelson, who has illustrated a children’s book on Mandela, told the New Yorker that he drew this cover to reflect a young Mandela “during the time that he was on trial with over a hundred of his comrades.”
“I wanted to make a simple and bold statement about Mandela and his life as a freedom fighter,” he said. “The raised fist and the simple, stark palette reminded me of posters and anti-apartheid imagery of the nineteen-eighties. This painting is a tribute to the struggle for freedom from all forms of discrimination, and Nelson’s very prominent role as a leader in the anti-apartheid movement.”
The mural at the Queen Street residence was commissioned by the owner (2014-2015) and was painted by local Dunedin artist Greg Lewis.
