In his fourth solo show, world renowned South African ceramic artist Andile Dyalvane pays homage to his ancestors with a large-scale selection of sculptural ceramic seating, premiering at Southern Guild in Cape Town from 10 December 2020 and at Friedman Benda in New York City in June 2021.

iThongo, an isiXhosa term, Andile’s mother tongue, translates to “ancestral dreamscape”, the spiritual passage in which ancestors communicate (uYalezo uLwimi lwabaPhantsi). In an unprecedented symbolic move, Andile’s work, which consists of 18 sculptural stools, chairs and benches, travelled to his native homestead of Ngobazana in rural Eastern Cape, creating a special opportunity for Andile’s family and community to view his work before it is exhibited in galleries.

Hand-moulded from terracotta clay, the seats feature rounded bases that are positioned close to the ground, which is hailed as an ancient portal for ancestral communion. The round bases anchor the sculptural backrests, which in contrast to the low seats, are almost one metre in height.

“My intentions with developing an extended body of work under the title iThongo is to highlight a gathering of dreams, seated in the soul, held by the spirits of our ancestors,” says Andile. “Symbols are visual tools harnessed to impart meanings more effectively within messages – codes, if you will – that aid stories. The language of dreams is symbolic and therefore realised as uyalezo, messages from our ancestral spirits.”

Inspired by rural traditional structures and kraals, the seats are curved and spherical, which in Xhosa spiritual practices, allows for free exchange of energy while maintaining a link to nature.

From the outset, Andile’s work has been about preserving traditional Xhosa practices and language, dating back to his first show in 2016 at Friedman Benda. His process is unique, one that sees meaning encoded into the form and aesthetic of each piece. It begins with calligraphic ink drawings or glyphs, which he has used over the years to create his own symbolic dialogue. There are a series of almost 200 symbols derived from words that denote power in Xhosa culture, like entshonalanga (sunset), igubu (drum) and umalusi (herdsman). These words also speak specifically to rural life, as well as universal human concepts. The carved-out forms derived from these symbols are created from and dissolve into the clay surfaces of the sculptures. Everything has a meaning beyond its beauty.

The exhibition will feature a series of interdisciplinary collaborations that Andile initiated with other artists whose work intentionally delves into culture. “Sound healer and musician Nkosenathi Ernie Koela produced an immersive composition combining traditional instruments and sounds created by the artworks; Sisonke Papu, an Umtata-based poet, traditional healer and co-founder of the ISPILI Network in the Eastern Cape, wrote about Dyalvane’s use of symbology for the catalogue; and textile artist Onesimo Bam made a collection of garments hand-painted in indigo dye for him to wear for the ceremonial presentation of his work to his village and to gift to his elders,” says Southern Guild, who is hosting the exhibition in partnership with Friedman Benda.

iThongo will showcase 18 sculptural stools, chairs and benches exhibited in the custom of Xhosa ceremonial gatherings, in a circular arrangement around a fire hearth and herbal offerings – a coming home celebration and a “thank you” to the ancestors who once walked Andile’s home soil.

For more information, visit southernguild.co.za. Follow @southernguildgallery and andiledyalvane on Instagram to keep up to date.

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Internationally acclaimed South African artist Dr Esther Mahlangu is celebrating her 85th birthday with one of the largest solo exhibitions of her work to date, entitled Esther Mahlangu 85.

Curated by Ruzy Rusike, the exhibition will showcase works created over the past three years. These pieces include not only her contemporary interpreation of Ndebele designs, but also a series of new sculptures. This monumental exhibition continues to highlight Dr Mahlangu’s passion to “pass on our tradition from generation to generation. So they can see where Ndebele comes from.”

Dr Esther Mahlangu continues to paint with a feather brush as per the Ndebele visual traditions. Image credit: Clint Strydom.

“I love art,” says Dr Mahlangu. “It is part of me and I can’t separate it from who I am. Many people ask me when I am going to retire. But making art is not a job to me, it is a major part of who I am and I will continue to paint as long as I am able.” 

An untitled abstract work by Dr Esther Mahlangu produced in 2019.

“Whilst I have worked with many respected museums, curators, art fairs, galleries and global brands I have had very few solo exhibitions in South Africa. It is exciting for me to be launching one of my largest solos ever at the age of 85 in South Africa so that my own people can experience and enjoy these paintings and realise their value,” she adds. 

An untitled abstract work by Dr Esther Mahlangu produced in 2020.

The exhibition can be viewed online and at The Melrose Gallery in Joburg until 20 December 2020. For more information, visit themelrosegallery.com.

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Botho Project Space, an artist-run, pan-African visual arts platform with a programme that encourages artistic freedom and experimentation, is hosting internationally acclaimed artist Nelson Makamo‘s new solo exhibition, entitled Botho, Motho, Batho.

Image credit: Courtesy of Botho Project Space. All rights reserved.

The exhibition, running from 14 November 2020 until 14 January 2021, celebrates the work created throughout the Johannesburg-based artist’s 15-year career. Nelson’s work seeks to constantly interrogate and reimagine our humanness, purposefully without the labels and “isms” that divide us as a society. Translating to “Humanity, A Person, People”, the title of this particular exhibition speaks to this.

Image credit: Courtesy of Botho Project Space. All rights reserved.

Using his signature medium, charcoal, as well as watercolour, acrylic and oil, Nelson documents the candid nature of everyday life through portraiture and figurative artworks, while focusing on themes involving urban life, migration, community and childhood – topics that play a central role in his life and the lives of Black Africans. In this context, his eye shifts between the complex dynamics of an ever-changing post-colonial Africa.

Since his first solo exhibition at the Obert gallery in Johannesburg in 2005, entitled “Walk With Me”, Nelson has solidified his place in the international art space with his distinct style.

Born in Modimolle, Limpopo in 1982, he is best known for his charcoal and oil portraits, reimagining the decades-old perception of the African child as destitute. In his portraits, the Black child has autonomy over the gaze, often smiling, playful, flanked with vivid colours in a context that is modern and unique to them – a perspective that one would not only have to observe, but experience, to properly capture the way he has.

Nelson’s work has featured in international publications such as TIME and Vogue, and has been exhibited in the USA, France, Italy, The Netherlands and Scotland. His work also forms part of several public and private collections, including those of Oprah Winfrey and Giorgio Armani.

Image credit: Thabo Molaba

To view the full catalogue of Nelson Makamo’s work, visit bothoprojectspace.com and follow the artist on Instagram. The exhibition will run until 14 January 2021, by appointment only.

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Ultramarine, artist Sujay Sanan‘s third solo exhibition in Cape Town, is a graphite interpretation of some of South Africa’s most majestic marine creatures.

Created at a time where humanity was forced to draw inwards for an unprecedented pause, Sujay found himself reaching outwards in the form of drawing cetaceans and sharks. Considering the complex social structures formed by these animals and the resulting freedom of movement presented to them by pandemic-induced lockdowns, Sujay felt them appropriate catalysts for reflection on our collective human responses to fear and danger.

And while they’ve enjoyed a minor reclamation of oceanic terrain, the true freedom of these animals is threatened like never before. Ultramarine serves as a reckoning with human behaviour. It’s a menagerie of stolen portraits of secretive animals, almost too large for us to fathom, brought to light in the hopes humans may find the sense and empathy to protect them.

Ultramarine‘s works do not draw from photographic reference. Instead, the creatures emerge from Sujay’s mind, based on the intake of hours of footage, writing, research and documentation.

Ultramarine can be viewed at 6 Spin Street, Cape Town from 11am – 4pm until 20 November 2020. For more info, visit sujaysanan.com.

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Stillness at WORLDART is an online solo exhibition by Renée Rossouw that features a new collection of the artist and architect’s painted linocut pieces.

Combining linocuts and cut paper shapes, Renée has composed works that aim to redefine the structure and order of our daily lives.

“How much of nature is in a single piece of paper?” she asks. “The tree, a cloud, how much rain and how many days of sunshine? Stillness is a contemplation on materials.”

The materials used in this body of work are all repurposed, from the paper to the wood. For Renée, Stillness is about reinventing for new beginnings, “a pursuit for a more quiet occupation on earth.”

View the exhibition online at worldart.co.za until 3 August 2020.

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Maputo-born, US-based painter and performance artist Cassi Namoda, who has exhibited across the globe, from solo shows in Los Angeles and Miami to group exhibitions in New York, Stockholm, Detroit and Bucharest, will be hosting a solo show for the first time on the African continent later this year.

Image credit: Greta Van Der Star, courtesy of the artist and Goodman Gallery

Goodman Gallery, which now represents Cassi, describes her work as “fleeting snapshots within much larger narratives,” similar to film stills. It’s “an ode to cinematic/narrative principles,” she says. “This dovetails within my practice.”

Embracing her ancestral lineage is integral to her work, and her pieces explore a broad range of subjects, from racial and cultural identity to moments of daily life in post-colonial Mozambique.

Ritual Prayer in Ibo Island, 2019.

Cassi believes her artistic style is “constantly expanding”, putting her love of creating down to the art of storytelling, together with a feeling of catharsis, freedom, amusement and joy. She also highlights the painting process and the assembly of concepts as the most enjoyable aspects of an exciting recent project where she was chosen as one of eight artists to paint the cover for the January 2020 photograph-less issue of Vogue Italia, a move the magazine made to highlight the importance of sustainability in the fashion industry.

Cassi’s solo exhibition, which will feature a new body of paintings, will be held at Goodman Gallery in Cape Town later this year.

For more information and to keep up to date, visit goodman-gallery.com, follow Goodman Gallery on Instagram and Cassi on Instagram.

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Berlin-based, South African illustrator Tara Deacon’s latest body of work, I am Here, moves between a world of both real and imagined spaces, memories and objects.

For Tara, this collection of almost 30 pieces is extremely personal, described as “approaching presence in daily life through introspective and outward observation.”

I am Here, which consists of mark making, collage and paintings, references the senses, namely sound, smell, touch and sight.

Mid Summer

Summer Rain

I am Here is currently on display at Tara’s solo exhibition in Madrid at Do Design, Fernando VI, 13. It will be on display until 20 November 2018.

To see more of her work, visit taradeacon.com.

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Renowned South African artist Michael Taylor’s solo exhibition, Boy. Boat. Bat., opens at WHATIFTHEWORLD’s newly opened gallery space on Buiten Street, Cape Town on 30 August 2018.

Made up of both figurative and landscape imagery in the form of paintings, drawings and installation, Michael’s latest body of work sees the styles and themes often associated with his pieces come together, forming a kind of collage. “I want viewers to look at these different approaches in work alongside each other and see what the narrative and stylistic similarities are,” says Michael. “The three themes in the title suggest that anyone can make up their own personal narrative, based on what they see and think.”

The Coming, 2017. Acrylic on canvas. 50 x 70 cm.

For this exhibition, Michael wanted to juxtapose the styles commonly seen in his work, namely landscape, figurative and narrative. “It was nice to work freely between all these approaches and not dedicate all of my working process to just a series of landscape drawings,” he says. “I’ve tried a couple of new combination works – framing drawings with other drawings, for example – and I found this idea of layering narrative ideas quite exciting as well.”

Boy. Boat. Bat. opens at 6pm on 30 August at WHATIFTHEWORLD, now located at 16 Buiten Street, Cape Town. The exhibition will run until 13 October 2018.

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Cape Town-based artist Kirsten Sims’ fourth solo exhibition, entitled By The Way, opened on Friday 17 August 2018 at Salon Ninety One.

Out of Office, 2018. Mixed media on board. 640 x 895 mm. Framed.

This latest body of work includes her signature lively compositions, atmospheric landscapes and playful portraits, as well as newly introduced, one-of-a-kind ceramics. Like her paintings, these ceramics have been gifted with witty titles, such as Banana Dog and Llama Drama.

Of the role of storytelling in her work, Kirsten shared this with VISI before her first solo exhibition in 2015: “Storytelling helps me, and I think the viewer too, to connect to a particular scene. Visually, they aren’t all ‘stories,’ but I think once I add a title there is more of a play between image and text, which definitely helps to create a narrative. I love setting a scene and seeing what will happen next.”

Read the rest of the interview here and watch Kirsten talk about her process here.

Follow Kirsten and Salon Ninety One on Instagram and catch By The Way, on until 15 September 2018, at Salon Ninety One, 91 Kloof Street, Cape Town.

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Cape Town-based collage artist Catherine Holtzhausen recently opened her first large-scale solo exhibition – entitled THATSCRAP – showcasing 365 mixed-media pieces.

This monumental project, which became a daily method of therapy while Catherine struggled with mental illness, is a visual record of Catherine’s attempts to reflect on the role that class, gender and economy have on her life as a female artist. The project took longer than 365 days after Catherine suffered a mental and physical burnout in 2017, making her hands tremor uncontrollably, which of course impacted on what she was able to create.

While Catherine normally cuts up her hand-printed and hand-painted watercolours, oil monoprints and collagraphs, before putting them back together to create a complete artwork, she experimented with found imagery from old issues of National Geographic, as well as film photography during this time.

Take It.

As the project continued, Catherine’s artworks matured, challenging social constructs women face on a daily basis. Her work aims to invoke a sense of joy in the audience, to remind the viewer in a, at times, humorous way that they are worthy and wonderful.

The exhibition is open until 31 May at Alliance Française du Cap, 155 Loop Street, Cape Town.

To keep up to date with Catherine and her work, follow her on Instagram.

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