Meet Mohau

WORDS Malibongwe Tyilo

Whether you made it onto the guest list for the Joburg Art Fair opening party last night, or you’re still planning a visit over the weekend, one of our favourite works is the video installation by artist Mohau Modisakeng.

The video is the result of a partnership between Artlogic, the company behind the fair, and electronic giant Samsung, who commissioned Mohau to create the installation. The work is being screened on the new Samsung Ultra HD 85-inch television.

Over the past few years, Mohau’s layered and textured photographic work has been shown on several local and international exhibitions. Here at VISI, he has certainly been on our radar for a while and we caught up with him to chat about the installation, travelling and what it takes to be a successful artist.

How did the collaboration with Samsung come about?

The collaboration with Samsung is something I never thought possible. I had been planning to shoot a series of videos since the beginning of the year. It just so worked out that around the time I was ready to shoot, Samsung extended an invitation to work on a video project. I then submitted a proposal based on what I had already been planning and they got on board. 

Regarding big brands like Samsung coming on board to support art, do you feel this signals a new era where there is more big business support for the arts?

The interest that a number of big brands have shown in the arts in Africa might be signalling something more significant. Brands like Samsung thrive on innovation and setting the bar, so will be among the first to make their way back into the African continent in a manner that can only signal a global drive to return to the world’s creative origins.

In terms of creative direction, do brands have any influence on the work?

I think it depends on the setting. In advertising for instance the product drives the entire focus and scope of the campaign. With a project like this, the focus is entirely on the work as well as the commitment to presenting the work in the best possible way. 

Where else can the work be viewed after the fair?

After the fair the video will be screened at Brundyn + Gonsalves in Cape Town. The gallery has just recently moved to Bo-Kaap where they have built a dedicated video room for this and similar kinds of projects. A screening is being organised around some of the gallery’s new programmes. 

Without saying too much, what can viewers expect from the work?

People can expect a story about some kind of beginning, some kind of middle and some kind of ending. The story revolves around shedding the old and making way for the new.  

As a medium, what do you think video art brings to art?

Video art brings a new take on storytelling. It gives us the opportunity to redress how our images as Africans are used in film, television and advertisements. Moving images within the media represent overly simplistic narratives about black South Africans. These narratives then become more vivid, more familiar and more believable with repetition. Since television and radio only really serve political interest as well as capitalist interests, the stories that are being told about us are often distorted, repetitive and superficial. This is the mirror that has been held up to our faces as South Africans, and the masses believe it to be a true reflection of themselves. Video art can reveal how complex our own self-image actually is, and it can do that using the same medium but turning these narratives cultivated to reduce people to mere subjects around.

You’ve done quite a bit of travel recently, specifically to the US, can you tell us about that and where, why and what you’ve been working on while there?

I first visited New York early this year to take part in VOLTA NY, which presents a younger and more vibrant selection of artists and runs alongside the more traditional Armory show. While there, a number of opportunities to return to the US presented themselves. I have gone back a few times since VOLTA for various professional and personal reasons, but the real wish for me has always been to study and work in New York. I am currently in the studio working towards my first solo show, which I hope to present next year. The travels to the US and Europe have been in preparation for that show.

What do you think it takes for an artist to succeed within the gallery system?

Ambition and a persistent vision of where the artist believes they’ve got to get to. Not to mention a trustworthy gallery that shares the same vision from the beginning. 

Read more of our coverage of the Joburg Art Fair, which runs until Sunday 29 September. There are also a number of fringe events around Joburg this weekend.