Sam Nhlengethwa
11 Nov - 02 Dec 2006
SAM NHLENGETHWA
"Townships Re-visited"
Sam Nhlengethwa’s new solo exhibition entitled ‘Townships revisited’ will open on 11 November 2006 at The Goodman Gallery. Along with Nhlengethwa’s exhibition of new work, the monograph entitled Sam Nhlengethwa the Goodman Gallery Editions' latest publication, will be launched. This will be the first comprehensive publication about Sam Nhlengethwa’s life and artworks.
For this exhibition Nhlengethwa has chosen to focus on the theme of townships around South Africa. Historically, townships were under-developed urban residential areas created for 'non-whites' by the Apartheid government. They were places of riots, unrest and violence. Townships were also places of great music, fashion and style. They were ‘monumentalized’ in the paintings of Gerard Sekoto and George Pemba. Sekoto and Pemba’s depictions of the townships have inspired Nhlengethwa’s work.
Nhlengethwa was interested to see how life in the various townships of South Africa had changed over the years. Whist working on this series of artworks, Nhlengethwa revisited and photographed various South African areas and townships. He visited townships in the Western Cape; KwaZulu Natal; Free State; North West and Gauteng. Nhlengethwa describes how "as autumn set in 2005, I embarked on the townships project. As part of my research, I visited different townships in the six provinces. I discovered during my research, that each of the townships I covered, has its own character, depending on where it is".
Nhlengethwa describes townships situated near Metropolitan cities as different from townships that are near less densely-populated towns and rural areas. They have a more ‘hybrid’ character that is fast-paced, and one cannot clearly distinguish an origin or cultural essence. Townships, generally speaking, have similar infrastructure and architecture. Lifestyle is casual and vibrant, as portrayed by the different characters in the artworks on exhibition.
As an artist working primarily with the techniques of collage and montage, Nhlengethwa has focused on using his own photographs to recreate these township scenes. Moving away from his earlier canvas works, Nhlengethwa’s new collage works are mainly on paper, which are accompanied by a new series of prints. Nhlengethwa’s new series of work gives the public a glimpse of life in the different townships.
The exhibition will run at The Goodman Gallery from 11 November through to 2 December 2006.
© Sam Nhlengethwa
Nyanga, Western Cape
2006
Mixed media on paper
120 x 322cm
"Townships Re-visited"
Sam Nhlengethwa’s new solo exhibition entitled ‘Townships revisited’ will open on 11 November 2006 at The Goodman Gallery. Along with Nhlengethwa’s exhibition of new work, the monograph entitled Sam Nhlengethwa the Goodman Gallery Editions' latest publication, will be launched. This will be the first comprehensive publication about Sam Nhlengethwa’s life and artworks.
For this exhibition Nhlengethwa has chosen to focus on the theme of townships around South Africa. Historically, townships were under-developed urban residential areas created for 'non-whites' by the Apartheid government. They were places of riots, unrest and violence. Townships were also places of great music, fashion and style. They were ‘monumentalized’ in the paintings of Gerard Sekoto and George Pemba. Sekoto and Pemba’s depictions of the townships have inspired Nhlengethwa’s work.
Nhlengethwa was interested to see how life in the various townships of South Africa had changed over the years. Whist working on this series of artworks, Nhlengethwa revisited and photographed various South African areas and townships. He visited townships in the Western Cape; KwaZulu Natal; Free State; North West and Gauteng. Nhlengethwa describes how "as autumn set in 2005, I embarked on the townships project. As part of my research, I visited different townships in the six provinces. I discovered during my research, that each of the townships I covered, has its own character, depending on where it is".
Nhlengethwa describes townships situated near Metropolitan cities as different from townships that are near less densely-populated towns and rural areas. They have a more ‘hybrid’ character that is fast-paced, and one cannot clearly distinguish an origin or cultural essence. Townships, generally speaking, have similar infrastructure and architecture. Lifestyle is casual and vibrant, as portrayed by the different characters in the artworks on exhibition.
As an artist working primarily with the techniques of collage and montage, Nhlengethwa has focused on using his own photographs to recreate these township scenes. Moving away from his earlier canvas works, Nhlengethwa’s new collage works are mainly on paper, which are accompanied by a new series of prints. Nhlengethwa’s new series of work gives the public a glimpse of life in the different townships.
The exhibition will run at The Goodman Gallery from 11 November through to 2 December 2006.
© Sam Nhlengethwa
Nyanga, Western Cape
2006
Mixed media on paper
120 x 322cm