AI meets Biblical Art: South African artist pushes creative boundaries

The Martyrdom of Nongqawuse, 2024

In a bold new exhibition that reinterprets Christian iconography through the lens of contemporary South Africa, biblical figures appear not as distant mythological presences but as metaphors for endurance, disillusionment and curiosity in a fractured world.

‘The Stories We Tell’, a solo exhibition by Simon Venter at Cape Town’s Sisonke Gallery in October, biblical imagery is integrated with past and present South African stories, reaffirming the relevance of these narratives. Generative AI was central to the creative process, not as a replacement for painting but as a tool that helped the artist to reshape composition and atmosphere. Utilising AI, unexpected visual possibilities emerged, which Venter reclaimed and transformed through his signature oil painting. Human intuition and digital logic allowed a creative space where sacred tradition, contemporary life and technology intersect.

Naissance, 2023

Born in 1997 and currently based in Gqeberha, Venter is a self-taught artist who has been practising professionally for the past eight years. His achievements include participation in the Nando’s Creative Exchange 2022 programme, including an exhibition opportunity at the RMB Latitudes Art Fair. With a practice rooted in oil painting yet open to experimental methods, Venter consistently explores the human condition and our evolving relationship with technology.

The tree of knowledge

Venter’s work positions itself at the crossroads of art history, faith and the digital future, offering audiences a reflective and visually striking experience.