Isango:
A new multidisciplinary exhibition by Nicholas Hlobo
Nicholas Hlobo’s latest solo show, Isango, is an exhibition of sculpture, painting and installation. Currently showing until 26 January 2019 at STEVENSON in Johannesburg, this is his seventh exhibition with the gallery, and his second in the Johannesburg space, following Tyaphaka and other works in 2013.
N
icholas Hlobo’s previous gallery exhibition, Sewing Saw, reflected on the necessity of destruction in creation as the artist
underwent a form of self-inventory, remarking, ‘this work is to deconstruct whatever it is I have constructed so that I get to understand the layers that I might have missed in the process of building that edifice’. Isango, which translates as ‘portal’, ‘passageway’ or ‘gate’, pictorialises a new gestative moment in Hlobo’s practice, with the artist pointing to the words of Major Tom, David Bowie’s fictional narrator in ‘Space Oddity’: ‘I’m stepping through the door / And I’m floating in a most peculiar way...’ Copper, lauded as an element with highly conductive properties, is integrated into Hlobo’s lexicon as a material key to exploring the passage between states of
Nicholas Hlobo, Iqhawe elingenagama IV, 2018. Copper, brass. Dimensions variable
being. Sculptures constructed from this metal feature heavily as Hlobo delves deeper into terrain first explored in Umthamo at the
various objects that act as mediators between the spiritual,
Maitland Institute in Cape Town and elaborated in Unyukelo,
elemental and somatic.
his forthcoming exhibition at the SCAD Museum of Art in
The curvilinear forms described by Hlobo as ‘frayed hula
Savannah, Georgia. He now posits, ‘Perhaps we’ve ascended
hoops’ and ‘imperfect crowns’ echo the paintings in Isango.
to this doorway. Perhaps now I’m about to move, I’m about
‘This is a continuation of those energy lines that I explore
to alight. We’re stepping through a door.’
in flat surfaces,’ states Hlobo. ‘I’m still stitching, but the
The artist foregrounds the potential of vessels and entryways as conduits for experiences with water, fire, air and earth. The sculptural works in Isango incorporate
material I’m using is an alloy that you heat, so I’m stitching with metal rather than stitching with ribbon.’ Isango is on at STEVENSON until 26 January 2019. The
religious paraphernalia, plumbing implements,
gallery will close for the summer holidays on 14 December
candleholders, wind instruments and door handles among
2018 and reopen on 7 January 2019. CF
Creative Feel / November 2018 / 37
