Field Painting

Wessel started his career as an art teacher in 1986 at the Bloemfontein Technical College. In 1988 he moved to Johannesburg and freelanced as an illustrator for Frontline magazine, Maskew Miller Longman Publishers and De Kat magazine. In 1991 he was appointed as the education officer at the Katlehong Art Centre. While at the centre he was instrumental in establishing the Visual Arts and Crafts Academy (VACA) in 1992. In 1997 he moved to Stockholm, Sweden, where he worked at Kulturhuset (The House of Culture) In early 1999 he moved back to South Africa and joined the television production company Tin Rage. He produced numerous documentaries for local and international TV. He was nominated and won several SAFTA awards. In 2016 he moved to Rosendal in the Free State where he now practices as a full time artist. Since 2016 he has participated in several group exhibitions and his work has, amongst other, been collected by The South African National Art Bank. Glo'Art International collection in Lanaken, Belgium, Big Fish School of Digital Film Making collection in Cape Town and Philippe and Kinga de Chandelar Petro Collection in Hungary. He has held two solo exhibitions and participated in several group exhibitions in South Africa and in Europe.