Lotto I

Title: Lotto I
Medium: Ten colour lithograph
Paper size: 76.5 x 57 cm
Image size: 48 x 66 cm
Edition size: 50

Dumisani Mabaso began working on the When your number comes in… series of prints in the winter of 2004. He became very ill and was unable to finish the prints that year. In 2006, back in fine health, Mabaso returned to the studio and the collaboration was completed and the prints editioned. Mabaso has pushed the mixing of colours in lithography almost to its limit in this series of prints and shows his fine understanding of the printing process and his ability to manipulate colour. Using the national lottery, Lotto, as his starting point Mabaso has created a series of prints that ask more questions than they give answers. Phrases that come to mind when looking at these prints are: “your number is up”, “un/lucky number”, “counting on winning/losing”, “hitting the jackpot”, “dead reckoning”, “a thousand to one”, “counting on something/someone”, “count me in/out”, and “out for the count”.

The numbers like those in the Lotto are random and uncontrolled and yet they fit into a graphic order, supported by either a large one, two or three (seen in the background of the print). These are philosophical questions but there is also the social side to the Lotto and how spending money on taking a chance has become a major drain on the finances of the poor in South Africa. Mabaso, who was no stranger to hard times, understood the allure of suddenly having all your financial problems solved when your number comes in.