(Pic: One of the impressive Izithunzi/ghosts on the exhibition)Exhibition by Standard Bank Young Artist for Visual Art 2009 running at Durban Art Gallery.
The Standard Bank Young Artist Award for Visual Art 2009 was awarded to Nicholas Hlobo who presents a major new sculptural installation in his solo exhibition, Umtshotsho. This exhibition began its year-long tour at the National Arts Festival, Grahamstown in July 2009 and will travel to various major centres around South Africa before ending its run in Cape Town in August 2010.
Hlobo draws strongly on his Xhosa heritage in his work, invoking the rich idioms of the Xhosa language and exploring how traditions evolve in changing times. Of equal interest to Hlobo is his own sexual identity, and his place as a gay man within Xhosa culture. Where his previous shows have looked at ideas surrounding birth and sex, in this exhibition Hlobo takes as his theme the rituals that accompany the transition from youth to adulthood.
As Hlobo explains, the term ‘umtshotsho’ refers to a traditional party for young people. ‘The focus is on that time when children are beginning to think and act like adults; the desire to explore life, dating, going out at night and all the consequences of wanting to do things older people do. Umtshotsho rarely takes place in its old form any more and young people have found alternatives such as going to bars and clubs. The works are not trying to tell a story about an old way of partying for teenagers but look at the new conventions and draw similarities between different times.’
In a darkened room the central installation, Izithunzi (meaning ‘shadows’), comprises a gathering of eight figures resembling jellyfish, pumpkins or ghosts. Some are freestanding, others suspended or seated on a sofa. Constructed primarily from rubber inner tubing, the figures are individuated with details of lace, organza and ribbons – Hlobo’s signature materials. Casting a red glow on the group – and perhaps a playful warning – a reupholstered lamp stands on a table covered with rubber to resemble a sack or a scrotum.
Born in Cape Town in 1975 and based in Johannesburg, Hlobo graduated from the Wits Technikon with a B Tech degree in 2002. His first solo show, Izele, took place at Michael Stevenson, Cape Town, in 2006. In 2008, Hlobo had solo exhibitions in the Level 2 Gallery at Tate Modern, London, and at the ICA in Boston, Massachusetts. Recent group shows include Beauty and Pleasure in South African Contemporary Art at the Stenersen Museum in Oslo; the third Guangzhou Triennial in China; Flow at the Studio Museum in Harlem, New York; and Home Lands/Land Marks at Haunch of Venison gallery in London.
Nicholas Hlobo: Umtshotsho runs until January 18 at the Durban Art Gallery, 2nd Floor City Hall, Smith Street, Durban. More information on 031 311 2264, fax 031 311 2273 or email: strettonj@durban.gov.za
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