Rising Sun, crafted from matchsticks, glass and balsa wood, recognised for its delicate power
The Investec Cape Town Art Fair (ICTAF) has announced Warren Maroon as the recipient of the 2026 Investec Emerging Artist Award. Maroon is represented by Everard Read and was recognised for Rising Sun (2025), created from glass, matchsticks and balsa wood. In addition to a cash prize, the award offers the recipient increased visibility among both domestic and international collectors, curators and galleries attending the fair.
Image from left to right: Elizabeth Fick, Head of Tax and Fiduciary at Investec, Tristanne Farrell, senior investment manager at Investec Wealth & Investment International, Emma Vandermerwe, Director and Head Curator at Everard Read CIRCA Gallery Cape Town, Cumesh Moodliar, CEO of Investec South Africa
The jury recognised Rising Sun for the way it transforms a familiar South African reference into a striking contemporary wall work, balancing meticulous craft with an undercurrent of fragility and risk. The judges cited the work’s strong conceptual anchor, disciplined execution and the sense of a practice ready for wider international attention.
What is the Investec Emerging Artist Award?
Created in 2025 to recognise early‑career South African artists who have not yet had a solo museum presentation or international solo exhibition, the Investec Emerging Artist Award forms part of ICTAF’s mission to connect local industry and talent with collectors and curators in South Africa and internationally.
ICTAF’s 13th edition runs from 20 to 22 February 2026 at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) under the curatorial concept “Listen”. Organisers describe the 2026 fair as its most ambitious edition to date, with 126 exhibitors from 34 international cities and work by more than 490 artists.
Rising Sun a Master Piece By Warren Maroon
Rising Sun is a large-scale wall work composed of repeating, floral-like forms in matchsticks and balsa wood, punctuated by darker textured fields of glass. From a distance it reads as ornamental and precise; up close, the materials introduce a sharper charge – beauty held alongside brittleness and heat.
In many ways, it embodies a kind of collective experience,” said Maroon. “I think everyone deserves a pat on the back simply for navigating the world without setting it alight. There’s a serenity you have to cultivate in order to remain intact and functioning. From a distance, the work appears calm and meditative. But as you move closer that sense of ease unravels as you realise it’s made of matchsticks and shards of glass, materials that are inherently unstable, and capable of causing harm.”
This Year’s Submissions
This year’s award attracted 31 submissions, reflecting the depth and diversity of contemporary practice in South Africa. The winner was selected by a jury panel including Cumesh Moodliar, CEO of Investec South Africa; Tristanne Farrell, senior investment manager at Investec Wealth & Investment International; and Elizabeth Fick, Head of Tax & Fiduciary at Investec, alongside other art experts. Entries were assessed for originality, artistic vision, technical execution and potential for future growth.
I found myself returning to Warren Maroon’s winning work long after we’d seen it,” said Moodliar. “He takes a familiar, domestic pattern – as humble as a doily – and reimagines it in matchsticks and broken glass. It’s beautiful at first glance, but edged with fragility, heat and risk, and that tension is exactly what gives the work its clarity. This is the kind of powerful talent that deserves to be encountered widely, and ICTAF is an important platform for South African voices to be heard within an international art conversation.”
Investec’s partnership with ICTAF reflects a long-term commitment to South Africa’s creative economy: backing cultural platforms that broaden access to art, strengthen the market’s foundations and help sustain the ecosystem that artists and galleries rely on.
