A young wave of South African artists are making names for themselves and their respective industries both in South Africa and globally. Below are a few whose artistic journeys you should be following.
Lebohang Kganye
Lebohang Kganye (b.1990) is a visual artist based and working in Johannesburg, South Africa. She is a part of a new generation of South African artists whose work is so successful locally that it’s ascendingly infiltrating the international market. Forming a part of a new generation of cotemporary artists who were born around the end of apartheid, Kganye’s work attempts to recreate moments in her family history she had not herself experienced by looking at old family albums and collecting to her family’s oral history. In 2022, Kganye and two other artists represented South Africa in the 59th Venice Biennale. Last year, she featured alongside veteran artist Sue Williamson in a two-person exhibition titled ‘Tell Me What You Remember’ at Philadelphia’s venerable Barnes Foundation. Kganye’s work encompasses photography, sculpture, performance, installation and film which were all interwoven in her first solo presentation ‘Mmoloki wa mehopolo: Breaking Bread with a Wanderer’ which took place in Cape Town, South Africa last July.
Mmangaliso Nzuza
Mmangaliso Nzuza (b.1998) lives and works in Durban, South Africa. A figurative visual artist, he completed a MA(Hons) Government, Policy and Society at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland in 2022 and thereafter continued to resume his practice as a self-taught artist. Known for his cubism-influenced and rich texture-filled artworks, his work tells a story that resonates with battling loneliness and navigating the self. Nzuza recently participated in the Enter Art Fair 2023 in Copenhagen, Denmark where he represented THK Gallery and South Africa alongside Lulama Wolf.
Lulam Wolf
Lulama Wolf is an artist living and working in Johannesburg. Wolf’s work explores the intersection between colonial Africa and contemporary art. She draws from techniques associated with vernacular architecture such as smearing and scraping pigments, to challenge ideas of tradition and modernity. Wolf’s work depicts the natural desire to mark one’s existence as she treats her practice as a “proof of existence” as a black woman artist. She recently represented THK Gallery with Mmangaliso Nzuza at the Enter Art Fair 2023 hosted in Copenhagen.
Lukhanyo Mdingi
Lukhanyo Mdingi was born in the Eastern Cape, South Africa in 1992 and works and lives in Cape Town. Mdingi launched his eponymous label in 2015 and his designs feature woven textiles and knitwear from crafts communities, marrying artisanal techniques with contemporary fashion. His collection offers timeless, idiosyncratic men’s ready-to-wear. The label experiments with premium raw materials including kid mohair, merino wool, and linen to create boldly textured wardrobe staples. Knit cardigans and vests, multipocket felted jackets, and relaxed suiting combinations arrive in a rich color palette reflective of the designer’s African roots. Mdingi produces powerful collections that exude ease and sensuality which saw LVMH Karl Lagerfeld Prize win six years after the bran’s inception. The brands ships internationally.
Luvuyo Nywawose was born in Durban and rose to prominence through his extraordinary ‘eBhish’ solo show at Blank Projects in Cape Town in 2021. The show was partly inspired by the nostalgia of childhood excursions to the Durban beach as well as his interest in the intimate histories documented in his family photo album. Nyawose’s remarkable photographs offer a critical and sensitive re-reading and re-questioning of depictions of black identity, in this instance as joyful beachgoers. His work also reveals the depth of his practice as Nyawose is also a researcher and documentarian who holds honours degrees in film from AFDA and curatorship from the University of Cape Town. He has also exhibited at the 13th edition of the Rencontres de Bamako – African Biennale of Photography in Mali.
