Johannesburg - The Standard Bank Gallery announced that it would present Ntsumi Ya Vutomi, a solo exhibition of recent work by Blessing Ngobeni.
Standard Bank Gallery said he has focused on the brutality of black existence since he first became a professional artist, and his work frequently expressed a reluctance to tackle this issue.
Ngobeni turned to painting in prison after growing up with a terrible upbringing that included homelessness and then incarceration, and seeing the humanity it gave to the lives of other prisoners.
"This exhibition showcases Ngobeni’s expansive skill set, in particular his ability to work across a vast array of materials, figuration styles, and formats," the gallery said.
Paintings, sculptures, installations, and video animations are all included in the exhibition, creating the impression of a display that will be packed to the gills.
The gallery said Ngobeni continued to investigate the pervasive brutality of the post-colony and its effects on black lives while experimenting with a variety of compositional approaches and materials. He draws inspiration from his 2020 SBYA virtual exhibition, Chaotic Pleasure.
"I’m working with the experiences that one goes through," he said.
"Examining the circumstances that allow others to learn and grow while others feel discouraged to do things. It is a way of reflecting while looking forward."
Standard Bank Gallery said that of late, fur, cotton wool, and fabric have expanded Ngobeni’s storytelling palette, allowing him to expand on and delve into new narratives and visual metaphors.
"I see cotton as this wound," he said. "A representation that goes back to what I call cotton children, the slaves. The cotton becomes our inheritance, like a pain that never ends."
Ntsumi Ya Vutomi, a survey exhibition curated by Thembinkosi Goniwe and Nkuli Nhleko, features well-known pieces as well as previously undiscovered series like Skeletons at Work, in which the artist flips his usual jagged figures on their heads by introducing rounded, stripped-down bodies in sparse urban settings. Ngobeni prefers to refer to it as "a time lapse".
"It was a different way of treating my work," said the artist of the series, which was shown for just 10 days at Everard Read, Johannesburg, and received positive feedback.
"It was also a move away from collaging and a way of bringing the marrow of my work out into the open."
Ntsumi Ya Vutomi runs at the Standard Bank Art Gallery from August 3 to September 16.
The Star