Contemporary Painters (Part I): Nhlengethwa | Sebidi | Langa | Blom
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Sam Nhlengethwa, Yellow Triangles, 1990 -
SAM NHLENGETHWA
Sam Nhlengethwa is well-known for his figure-based paintings and collage works that delve into themes like social history, jazz music, art, and domestic life. Less known is his foray into abstraction stemming from the Tupelo Workshops.
This significant body of work emerged from his explorations into abstract painting during the late 1980s and early 1990s that was greatly influenced by his participation in the Thupelo series of artist workshops organised by David Koloane and Bill Ainslie. These annual two-week workshops aimed, in the words of Koloane, "to inspire artists to research and experiment [with] medium and technique so that they are able to expand their creative vocabulary".
The Thupelo Workshop series, initiated in 1985 in Johannesburg, was a response to the socio-political challenges faced by black artists in South Africa during a state of emergency, and was supported by organisations such as the Johannesburg Art Foundation (JAF), The Federated Union of Black Arts (FUBA), and FUNDA community college in Soweto. The workshops empowered black artists to develop their work in-line with international conventions and without the pressures of the white-dominated art market that prescribed narrative and figurative work. David Koloane emphasised their rejection of the prevailing expectation for Black artists to produce representational work within a marketable ‘township’ genre.
Thupelo was inspired by Antony Caro and Robert Loder's concept of involving marginalised artists in alternative artistic approaches, originating from the Triangle Artists' Workshop in New York in 1982. "Thupelo," derived from the Sotho language, means "to teach by example." These workshops provided a platform for artists to explore, develop their abilities, and experiment, fostering new forms of expression through a rigorous, collaborative process. Their hope was that the artist-run workshop approach and intensive environment would catalyse alternative directions that challenged conventional expectations.
This painting was produced in response to the environment and aims of the programme, and represents the only period in which Nhlengethwa consistently produced abstract work.
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Mmakgabo Mmapula Mmangankato Helen Sebidi, Lost Human Life, 2007
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MMAKGABO HELEN SEBIDI
Mmakgabo Maputo Mmangankato Helen Sebidi, renowned as Helen Sebidi, grew up on the rural outskirts of Tshwane, Marapyane (formerly Skilpadfontein), near Hamanskraal, Pretoria. She hails from a working-class background, with her mother employed as a domestic worker in Johannesburg during her youth, she was consequently raised in the countryside by her grandmother. Sebidi acquired skills in mural painting, pyro-engraving of calabashes, knitting, sewing, embroidery, beadwork, and imbibed values that profoundly influenced her later life and artistic expression.
A recurring theme in her work is the revival of moral values, particularly those associated with precolonial Africa. Her art often presents imagined rural scenes and dreamlike African cosmologies, offering a perspective of pre-Christian and pre-colonial Africa. Despite the tragic scene depicted, this work features matriarchal, or at least female, protagonists, highlighting the spiritual and ritual power of women in this mythical African tableau. Her focus on realist portrayals of rural life among black South Africans and broader African mythologies not only pays homage to her family and traditions but also serves as a vital conduit to preserve connections to a disappearing rural and oral culture.
In an interview, Sebidi emphasises the significance of seTswana storytelling for imagination and art education:
The old people told us stories... about how people live and... about how to see. They 'read' the clouds. We used to sit outside in the courtyard, and especially in the very bright moonlight when there were a lot of clouds they used to read the stories for us and tell us: look at that, look at the soldiers, look at this! And they would tell us: you're going to have to see other life that's coming.
Sebidi's artistic development was borne through a fortuitous encounter with fellow artist John Koenakeefe Mohl, and she subsequently enrolled in art classes at Dorkay House, a cultural landmark linked to prominent Black artists of the 1950s. Mentored by Mohl, she was encouraged to develop her individual style and practice. She returned to her hometown in the mid-1970s, creating art inspired by her lineage following Mohl's encouragement. Furthering her training at the Katlehong Art Centre and the Johannesburg Art Foundation in the 1980s, Sebidi became the first black woman to receive the prestigious Standard Bank Young Artist Award in 1989.
In the late 1980s, her art transitioned towards an abstracted vernacular while maintaining its figurative content. Sebidi dedicated herself to art practice and teaching, earning accolades such as the Order of Ikhamanga in Silver from President Thabo Mbeki in 2004 and the ACT Lifetime Achievement Award for Visual Art in 2011. In 2015, she received the Mbokodo Award, honouring her contributions to South African arts and culture. More recently, a retrospective exhibition titled Batlhaping Ba Re in September 2018 showcased her work at the Norval Foundation, Cape Town. -
Moshekwa Langa, Lesedi, 2012
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MOSHEKWA LANGA
Moshekwa Langa's exceptional talent in merging cultures, transcending boundaries, and capturing the essence of human experience has positioned him as a leading figure in the global art scene.
Langa grew up in Bakenberg, a small village in the northernmost province of Limpopo, amid apartheid-era challenges where his early life was shaped by cultural diversity, racial tension, and a quest for self-discovery. These experiences became the foundation of his artistry and propelled him to international recognition.
Langa's artistic exploration began with sketching the vivid landscapes of his homeland as a young boy, leading him to the Johannesburg Art Foundation, where he honed his skills and found a supportive community of artists seeking creative liberation. His first solo exhibition was in 1995 at the now defunct Rembrandt van Rijn Art Gallery in Johannesburg. Two years later, he left the country, taking up a year-long residency at the Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten in Amsterdam, where he remained until 2007. His undeniably contemporary work earned recognition like the prestigious Standard Bank Young Artist Award for Visual Arts in 2001. He returned to South Africa in 2008 and lived in Johannesburg until 2013, before moving back to Amsterdam. It is during this period that the present work was produced, named after the artist's obscure rural origins, it epitomises the cryptic connection between art and a sense of liminal place and identity. In a world inundated with noise, Langa's art provides a quiet moment for reflection, inviting viewers to engage with profound questions and embrace diversity. These abstractions evoke dreamlike mental states, offering a psychological excavation beneath the surface of images. As with poetry, Langa's abstractions express representations as gestures towards meanings, preserving an elliptical and liminal sense across all his media.
Coming from the Limpopo region, Langa's work often explores a unique perspective on social spaces in his home country. Rather than providing answers, he aims to raise questions about representation, aspiring to establish a visual anthropology through his art. Describing his work as inspired by various desires and needs, Langa's art defies easy classification, spanning painting, drawing, sculpture, collage, photography, and installation. A distinctive aspect of this approach is his ability to weave personal narratives with broader social and political commentary. Themes of identity, migration, displacement, and the human condition permeate his work, serving as a bridge between cultures, encouraging viewers to explore the complexity of their identities and appreciate multicultural nuances.
Langa's art has gained international acclaim, exhibited in renowned institutions such as the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, the Tate Modern in London, and the Centre Pompidou in Paris. The late artist and critic Colin Richards weighed in, describing his work as “cryptic and diaristic, his aesthetic one of wit and whimsy, a sharp feel for the game and a devotion to keeping on the move”.[1]
[1] Richards C. (2004). 'Aftermath: Value and Violence in Contemporary South Africa Art', in Antinomies of Art and Culture: Modernity, Postmodernity, Contemporaneity. Edited by Terry Smith, et al. Durham: Duke University Press. -
Zander Blom, Untitled 1.316, 2012
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ZANDER BLOM
Zander Blom is an abstract painter deeply influenced by earlier twentieth-century Euro-American abstract painting. Initially trained in graphic design, Blom's early artistic pursuits encompassed drawings, paper assemblies, sound collages, and photographs, capturing uniquely painted and sculpted sets in his then Brixton home in Johannesburg. While primarily recognised as a painter today, his diverse background contributes to a rich artistic vocabulary.
Blom won the third Jean-François Prat Prize for contemporary painting in Paris in 2014 and was featured in Phaidon's anthology, Vitamin P3: New Perspectives in Painting (2016). His second catalogue raisonné, Paintings Volume II, was published by Stevenson in 2016, and various subsequent publications including most recently two catalogues raisonné titled Monochrome Paintings I and II, documenting his latest foray into the possibilities of black and white document the artistic development of this prodigious talent. His process-oriented and evolutionary approach is evident in his canvases, where he systematically progresses through fixed series that push the boundaries of abstraction. Unconventional in his use of tools, Blom applies paint directly onto surfaces with various unconventional instruments, palette knives, and implements crafted by the artist himself. The result is a distinctive painting style, unique in South Africa, characterised by impasto, gestural marks, and the exploration of oil paint's stain on unprimed Belgian linen. Blom’s style is highly distinctive and quintessential, and his visual vernacular is amongst the most iconic and distinguishable in contemporary painting.
Blom's paintings remain untitled and are identified by numerical tags that position each work within the chronology of his evolving practice. Represented by Stevenson, he has held ten solo exhibitions at the gallery between 2010 and 2022, with the latest occurring from August to September 2023.
In 2016, Blom’s inclusion in the afore-mentioned Vitamin P3: New Perspectives in Painting anthology showcased his work alongside contemporary painting by over 100 other exceptional international artists. This inclusion not only brought him into the spotlight but also solidified his position as part of a new generation pushing this historic medium into innovative and unforeseen realms.
Blom's artistic focus revolves around the material qualities of paint and the act of creation. The physicality of his paintings profoundly influences their content and significance. Untitled 1.316 is a remarkable testament to Blom's exploration into the capabilities of oil paint. Drawing inspiration from the actions and techniques of Abstract Expressionism, he liberally applies thick daubs of oil paint onto unprimed, raw linen canvas. The process makes the canvas take on its own hue as the oil seeps from the paint and is absorbed by the fabric. Embracing chance, Blom allows these oil stains to claim their own formal space within the painting, adding to the dynamism of the overall composition. This triple layering of material characterises Blom’s stylistic idiom, creating surface tension as the paint tugs at the linen, while the linen grasps the paint, and the oil permeates the canvas. This resulting display simultaneously depicts their connection and separation.
In this painting, Blom's use of oil paint is evocative, limiting the colour range to black with sporadic inclusions of white and blue for heightened impact. The absence of a descriptive title encourages subjective interpretation and meaning, foregrounding the formalist characteristics of the composition, and positioning the work as a product of Blom’s artistic method and his investigation into the materiality and physical nature of oil paint. The true aesthetic value of Untitled 1.316 lies in this materiality. A visually striking work, Untitled 1.316 exudes vibrancy, underscoring the enduring appeal of Blom’s physical, painterly, and expressionist abstraction.
