Artists We Love: Reggie Khumalo

INTERVIEWED BY Cheri Morris

South African fine artist, motorbike adventurer and philanthropist Reggie Khumalo‘s first exhibition in West Africa, Mental Revolution, features an acrylic introspection into the liberation of African people; a deliverance from a painful past into a radiant future.

We caught up with him to find out more about his work, the space in which he is most creative and what advice he has for young artists looking to break onto the scene.

When did you start painting? Do you have any formal training?

I’ve always been sketching, since childhood. I would sketch my dad’s or someone else’s face. It was always faces for some reason. That continued for a long time. I never had any formal training or education. In 2012, I did a painting and I sold it. From there I knew it could become something. I officially
became a full-on artist when I was 27. That’s when I became a professional artist. I took a trip across the continent to find the artist within myself because I knew that it was there because I had it when I was younger and lost it at some point. I did collaborations across the continent and so on. I felt at home making art again. From there, when I came back to South Africa I became a full-time artist.

You say you lost the artist within you at some point and collaborations helped bring that artist back. Can you share one of the most profound/shaping collaborations you had during this journey of rediscovery?

Yes, I knew there was an artist in me and it took seeing other artists living their truth to get back to that part of me; it was easier to access that part of me when I was around others doing the same – as opposed to trying to bring it about myseIf.

I have a few stand-out collaborations and experiences. The first was meeting Hage Nasheotwalwa, a Namibian artist, after my motorbike expedition from Cape Town to Windhoek. We met through a friend and decided to do a painting together. We painted freely; I did my part, he did his. This came on the back of a lot of introspection: It was my first time out of South Africa on a motorbike, and I was asking myself “Reggie, what are you doing? Why are you doing this? Are you crazy?” My heart was soft to learning and seeing Hage live his truth taught me a lot.

The second experience was learning how to sculpt stone at Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe. I was working with some guys from a township; they taught me how to sculpt and I created a sculpture. I had no money at the time, but the next day a friend (who wasn’t aware of my financial situation) left $50 for me and that was exactly how much I needed to get to Mozambique. From there it was as if with each collaboration – learning to wood carve in Malawi, making bracelets in Namibia – somehow, some way, the money I needed appeared to me the next day. It was as if the Universe, God, was looking after me; showing me that I was destined to play this part. Art showed me that if I live it this way, things will happen and to trust in that.

What do you like most about your chosen painting technique?

I like that nothing is ever wrong. I can always go over it if I get it ‘wrong’ the first time. Lately, I’ve started incorporating mixed media, but acrylic is my medium.

How has your work evolved over time?

It has definitely evolved because of all the travelling I do. People, especially in Africa but also in Europe, inspire me. I am inspired by where I am. I tell the story of the people there. I also try to support the people wherever I am, in terms of charitable causes. I don’t only take from the spaces, I also give back. I think the more I grow, the more I find myself in these places, the more I find myself growing in my art and technique too. I’m forever growing and, therefore, so is the art.

You paint mostly portraits – are these real people? If not, where do they come from?

Some are real people; some are not. I change the faces. All the paintings you see are actual people but also fragments of my imagination. I would have seen a picture; I look at it once and then I start painting. When I do so it gets distorted in terms of how I feel and from what I’ve seen, so I’d say it’s a bit of both – real people but also not. When I started, I used to take images of people I met. Now, some of them are just images I find wherever. It may be online or elsewhere. I then go with the flow of wherever it takes me. The structure is inspired by an image of someone or something.

The clothing seems to be important to the work. Can you tell me about that?

Are you referring to the cloth or actual clothing? I can answer the question on both levels. The clothing captures the people. We know people by how they dress, so when you look at the images you know that this is where I’ve been. You can easily follow the story. If I do use the material from some of the places it’s to capture that place in my work. I capture the space and take it with me. I take the people and spaces with me because the shows are never where I’ve been. They are in Europe, America or wherever.

Describe the physical space in which you are most creative.

When I don’t have everything together, when I am not in my most comfortable space. I need to be constantly moving and changing spaces; this always breaks the ground for what I need to learn, to hear, to experience within myself: To hear my soul speak I need to be soft. Comfort spaces lead to repetition and a lack of growth. The more I am in spaces of discomfort, of newness, the more I pick up pieces of myself. I get new direction and inspiration. Lately, being by the water and the ocean – far away from the hustle and bustle of the city – leads me deeper into myself (which is why I am in Zanzibar).

Why is the location of your next exhibition, Lagos, important?

This will be my first show in West Africa. I think, as Africans, it’s important that we crisscross the continent in order to share our cultures and different points of view and to learn from one another; to capture a time in history. Travelling is the most important thing to do as an artist. We can fight things like xenophobia through art when we share other people’s stories, where they are coming from and why they are going through the things they are going through. What’s going on in those countries? I was in Sudan during the Revolution and I’d never seen people standing up against injustice. That changed my work. That’s what you see: Black faces in my work that are inspired by the people of Sudan at the time.

What’s next?

I’ve got a show in Munich and then New York at Rockefeller Centre with Bishop Gallery, which is my representation there. Then comes a residency with them for one year. That’s the plan, but let’s see. In the next two months, I‘m going on a trip across five African countries on a motorbike to raise money for
the UN’s Food Programme. I’m going to visit their projects, come up with a body of work and then donate back to those projects. I’m excited to get back on the road and do what I do best – to be wild, free, painting and sharing the spirit of Ubuntu to say, “Your brothers across the continent care about you. We are in this together as Africans.”

What advice would you give to a young artist looking to break into the scene?

Listen to the voice inside of you. Trust your path – the path that your soul leads you on. Listen to your heart and your soul and be deliberate in where you’re going. Your soul is always speaking to you. You just need to quieten everything else and listen to its messages. Your soul will never lie to you. It will get you into rooms you’ve never been in and take you to heights you wouldn’t otherwise reach. It’s almost spiritual so sometimes it won’t make sense to other people. It’s usually the path of least resistance, so just go with the flow – your flow.

For me it was hitting the road and going across Africa, being in a tent in the bush, on a rooftop in Ethiopia and still knowing that this is my path. Knowing that the world isn’t far ahead of, or better than, me. With that I say, never aspire to be other artists – even when they’re doing well and you aren’t. Celebrate them, congratulate them and know that your time will come. It’s a daily death – divorcing yourself from the desire to be others and coming back to being you.

BrownEyedBoy Art Pursuits in partnership with J.ROOM Curated is hosting Khumalo at the prestigious HourGlass Gallery in Lagos Nigeria from 13 to 20 April 2022. For more information, visit hourglassgallery.com.

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