Back of the Moon
Neo Matloga
Back of the Moon
Neo Matloga
11 Back of the Moon, Front of the Eye Luyanda Mpangele 15 Works 2020 35 ‘What you see is life’ Neo Matloga in conversation with Sisipho Ngodwana and Dineo Diphofa 48
Black Collages 2017-18
57 Everything Genetic Ashraf Jamal 65
Works 2018-19
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Biography
Luyanda Mpangele
Back of the Moon, Front of the Eye
For his first South African solo exhibition, Back of the
enamel tableware, fathers disappearing for months at a
Moon, Neo Matloga worked mostly at night, in a moonlit
time to work in the mines or on farms, exhausted mothers
studio, in the small town of Ga-Mamaila, Limpopo. The
reprimanding and managing, the banter among siblings.
space was formerly his parents’ ‘two-room’.
Somehow, in the midst of all this, there was the potential
A legacy of apartheid in South Africa, the two-roomed house is emblematic of histories of displacement and
for intimacy and innovation to thrive. This space of intimate memories for many Black people
segregation. These confined structures, built in tightly
became an incubator for Matloga’s creative process.
packed townships or rural Bantustans, were domestic
Returning to Ga-Mamaila for a visit in 2018, as part of
‘starter packs’ for many young Black couples, which grew
his immersion into the surroundings of his hometown, he
into generational homes for their progeny.
collected portraits that he cut out of old newspapers and
My own grandmother’s two-room housed up to 10 family
magazines, as well as photographs of family and friends.
members at a time. She shared stories of how her kitchen
These images were to become collage – a technique in
would turn into a bedroom at night, then a bathroom for a
which familiar objects can be reimagined through the way
few hours in the morning with zinc ‘waskoms’ kept warm
they are brought together in new spaces and contexts.
by enormous Dover coal stoves, and back into a kitchen
Matloga likens his method to that of a symphonic orchestra,
once everyone had left for the day. If those overstretched
commenting, ‘I watched the Palestine Youth Orchestra once
walls could speak, they would relive piping suppers on
and the conductor reminded me of how I work. His baton is
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like the paintbrush and lacquer I use to guide the cut-out
they were also largely excluded from the conversations
images onto the canvas – just as the conductor directs his
initiated within art discourse.
ensemble to create a synchronous piece of music.’ As a student at Amsterdam’s De Ateliers, Matloga
freedom his works give Black people to observe – what
had initially chosen painting with oils as his area of
hooks terms the ‘oppositional gaze’. She states: ‘spaces
focus. However, he found himself dissatisfied with the
of agency exist for Black people when we can both
medium, feeling that its potential for perfection carried
interrogate the gaze of the Other but also look back at
an undertone of deception. The technique lacked the
one another naming what we see. The “gaze” has been
tension and rawness he wanted to see in his work.
and is a site of resistance for Black people globally’.
Shifting to an exploration of collage, he recalls being
In 2016, during his first experiments with collage,
‘constantly surprised by the results’. In his now signature
Matloga asserted, ‘If there is a possibility that a Black
process, which combines collage with charcoal and ink,
face is seen as a distortion, what I’m saying is, OK, here
he deconstructs pictures of relatives, celebrities and
you have this image of distortion, which is already there
strangers, using noses, lips, eyes and ears of varying
in your prejudices or racist gaze. The process of cutting,
proportions to reconstruct fictional faces in a play of
reconfiguring and collaging the facial anatomy is my way
perspective. These distorted portraits – forming an
of trying to identify with the racist gaze to dis-appropriate
expansive series in his 2017/18 Black Collages – serve
its oppressive power.’
as a direct interrogation of the racist gaze. There are long-standing discussions in art history
In Back of the Moon, Matloga broadens the lens through which Black bodies are viewed and expands the myriad
around the gaze and its alignment with white supremacy
possible realities that Black people can exist in, whether
culture. Feminist scholar and social activist bell hooks
real or imagined. The scenes in these paintings inform
acknowledges how the gaze has functioned in the context
each other while maintaining their individual integrity,
of Black people’s struggle for power in her 1992 essay
which could be attributed to the artist’s method of
collection, Black Looks: Race and Representation: ‘The
working on different canvases simultaneously. Much as
politics of slavery, of racialised power relations, were such
the moon illuminates objects blanketed by the night sky,
that slaves were denied their right to gaze’. Among Black
causing shadows that continuously change, Matloga’s
families, trauma is transmitted across generations though
characters dance within the surreal landscapes of his
the instruction not to look; parents tell their children to
canvases in a play of light and dark, refusing to be
avoid eye contact with their elders as a form of respect,
restricted to two dimensions.
cementing the idea that ‘gazing’ is a privilege reserved for those in positions of power. This act of ‘not looking’ has embedded itself firmly
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The power of Matloga’s figurations is amplified by the
Matloga’s titles, written in his mother tongue of Sepedi and its close relative, Selobedu, linguistically gesture at the layered reality that comes with being Black in South
within the realm of art. Not only were Black people made
Africa. For centuries South Africa’s official languages were
to feel undeserving of spaces dedicated to high culture,
Dutch, English and Afrikaans. The indigenous languages
spoken by a majority of the population were largely
me’, has three subjects sitting shoulder to shoulder on a
ignored; some, such as Selobedu, are still not regarded
couch in contemplation, beverages in hand, and a fourth,
as ‘official’ within the new democratic dispensation. In
quite indifferent, perched on the armrest. Unaware of their
using these languages, there is a reclaiming of yet further
apparent distortion, these figures own their Blackness by
aspects of the Black story.
the sheer will of their existence in these imagined scenes,
The nuanced elements in Matloga’s work that highlight
challenging the performative quality of race. Blackness
the Black experience indicate that, certainly, Blackness
is often worn and perceived as a semiotic cloak; it exists
can be many things when seen through different lenses.
as a signifier of how individuals should be treated. Yet
Race remains an uncomfortable conversation in South
these characters live comfortably in their Blackness;
Africa, our honest opinions cushioned between placebo
unbothered by the viewer, they seem audacious in their
dialogue about the rainbow nation and reconciliation.
self-possession. To look at them is to be disarmed by
There’s an unspoken fear of the veil being lifted to reveal
their reciprocal gaze.
the underlying prejudices that persist. Matloga’s collage
In the act of looking, my curiosity is tugged by the
paintings form a silent protest to the single narrative of
question of who these characters are. The artist himself
Blackness and the historical, prejudicial gaze through
has confessed to not knowing: ‘Living with the work in
which it is seen. ‘Black identity’ is negotiated through
my studio made me realise that I’m creating situations
the individual and interpersonal relationships that
that I know are not for me to understand, meaning I’m
form a large part of the lived Black experience.
not able to decipher the expressions of the figures even
It is easy to politicise Matloga’s collages with their
though I highly connect with and to them.’ These figures
foregrounded depiction of Black bodies. But there is
are at once nobody and everybody. The initial familiarity
also space to see them simply as tender depictions of
of certain chins and eyebrows is quickly interrupted by
Blackness. When the shroud of politics is removed, even
the unease evoked by the misplaced features. In essence,
briefly, one is invited to appreciate the wondrous anatomy
they become who you think they are, or rather who you
of the collaged figures. With their bulging eyes, twisted
think you are in the process of mental identification. They
lips and surreal bodies, Matloga’s characters prompt new
are neither here nor there, and Matloga’s monochromatic
interrogations of the human form. Mantšeboa, Matshidiso
palette adds to the sense of boundlessness. Suspended in
le Matjale, Mokibelo, ‘Modjadji o stout’ and ‘Mamazala ka
time, the works create an inner conflict of nostalgia and
di potsotso’ all feature an inverted, disorienting gaze. The
longing, a push-pull between memory and fantasy.
positioning of the eyes on the characters’ faces makes the
The collages are as distorted as the global
viewer feel watched in turn, whether made to feel like an
understanding of the Black experience – depending on
intruder or invited in to become part of this world.
the lens through which it is seen, Blackness can be many
Two lovebirds with mismatched facial features are seen
things. It is to be ‘westernised’ while still performing
indulging in a stolen moment outside a home in ‘Motho
rituals that honour abaphansi. It is to be multilingual. It
waka’, which translates as ‘My love’. Mponeng, ‘Look at
is to be a feminist while understanding the necessity of
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lobola in the context of tradition without neglecting how
art that boldly reflects his life as a Black man while
it perpetuates patriarchal ideologies. It is growing up in
asserting himself as an artist in his hometown, which is
a rural area, studying in the city, living in a township and
only beginning to recognise the merits of this occupation.
working in the suburbs. It is burning impepho to ward off
According to Matloga, ‘the historical and political context
bad spirits while being a devout Christian. Equally it can
has become an everyday psychological experience’.
be none of these things, according to the subjectivities of the individual.
Back of the Moon reclaims the Black experience, through the depiction of Black bodies in intimate
To be unapologetically Black is a political act, with or
spaces and through the liberated gaze. Matloga’s act of
without deliberate intention. But the artist is quick to
reclamation is without erasure; he has taken something
assert that he does not identify as an activist. He may
back and presented it to the world through a different
explore the Black experience in his work, but he feels he
lens. Through this lens a host of new perspectives emerge
is sharing his experience rather than making a statement.
because to be Black is to be a collage of many things.
The political layer is added by the viewer’s gaze, based on the formation of their own consciousness. Matloga acknowledges that to create art in what used to be a two-room house in post-apartheid South Africa is to understand that the political residue of the memories within it will somehow, even on a subconscious level, filter into the work. After all, collage extends to the
References bell hooks. 1992. Black Looks: Race and Representation. New York: Routledge Neo Matloga. 2019. ‘Neo Matloga: Neo to Love’. Fries Museum: YouTube (26 April 2019). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YF-3-H3L4Lg Keely Shinners. 2020. ‘What being looked at feels like: “About Face” at Stevenson’. ArtThrob. https://artthrob.co.za/2019/01/14/what-beinglooked-at-feels-like-about-face-at-stevenson/
artist’s concept of home, something he has to navigate constantly as a Black South African living in Amsterdam. His straddling of the two worlds inspires him to create
Luyanda Mpangele is a Johannesburg-based writer, visual artist, editor and blogger.
‘Motho waka’, 2020 Collage, charcoal, liquid charcoal and ink on canvas 180 × 160cm
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Mponeng, 2020 Collage, charcoal, liquid charcoal and ink on canvas 200 Ă— 250cm
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‘Modjadji o stout’, 2020 Collage, charcoal, liquid charcoal and ink on canvas 200 × 250cm
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Mmadira, 2020 Collage, charcoal, liquid charcoal and ink on canvas 190 Ă— 145cm
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Mokgadi, 2020 Collage, charcoal, liquid charcoal and ink on canvas 190 Ă— 145cm
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24 Mahlakung, 2020 Collage, charcoal, liquid charcoal and ink on canvas 250 Ă— 450cm
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‘Mamazala ka di potsotso’, 2020 Collage, charcoal, liquid charcoal and ink on canvas 170 × 200cm
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Matshidiso le Matjale, 2020 Collage, charcoal, liquid charcoal and ink on canvas 140 Ă— 115cm
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Mpharanyana, 2020 Collage, charcoal, liquid charcoal and ink on canvas 250 Ă— 202cm
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32 Mokibelo, 2020 Collage, charcoal, liquid charcoal and ink on canvas 180 Ă— 320cm
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MantĹĄeboa, 2020, collage, charcoal, liquid charcoal and ink on canvas, 170 Ă— 200cm Installation view, Stevenson, Johannesburg
Neo Matloga in conversation with
Could you tell us about the title of your exhibition,
You’ve mentioned that the works were made in the light
Back of the Moon?
of the moon. Do you always work at night?
I’m reminiscing about an imagined place and time, a past
It just so happened that, during this period, my levels of
that becomes present behind the moon. I come from a
concentration were better in the evening. Once I realised
place where a lot happens at night. There are rumours of
this, it was clear that night would be the most useful
voodoo and witchcraft – stories of people who wake up
time for me to engage with my work. I do work during
and plant evil spirits in other people’s homes. O swanetše
the day, but in other forms. When I’m outside the studio
go ba le phatla ya gona, meaning certain things are meant
I know that I don’t have to go far to experience something
to be seen by certain people.
that may be surreal or absurd. There’s always something
Sisipho Ngodwana and Dineo Diphofa
‘What you see is life’
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happening within my surroundings, so I’ll always have a
living decades ago; the days feel longer. Topics such as race
camera with me and I’ll always have my ears open to listen
are also spoken about in a very different way here because
to new stories from people passing by.
we don’t experience the same things that people in the cities experience. Certain things happen quite far away from us and
This is your first solo exhibition in South Africa. With your
the village is predominantly lived in by Black people, most of
work being partially inspired by the country’s socio-political
whom own their compounds or their land, which I admire. At
history, is having an exhibition here of particular significance?
the same time, Ga-Mamaila is a village that is growing. There is so much to appreciate about it – the vast landscape, the
When I land in South Africa, it is always enlightening to
air, the people and their relationship with the landscape.
see home with a new perspective, although there are so many challenges and social circumstances that one
I’m interested in how you came to work in Amsterdam. How
has to psychologically adjust to. Whenever I’m here in
did the residency at De Ateliers come about? What was your
Ga-Mamaila I start missing Amsterdam, and whenever
experience like there, and how did it compare to your time
I’m in Amsterdam I start missing Ga-Mamaila. I know I’m
at the Bag Factory in Johannesburg?
privileged to experience worlds that are totally different when it comes to politics, religion and cultural viewpoints,
Being at De Ateliers was challenging at times because
but showing my work on home soil and being integrated
nothing was for marks; it’s not school. You just have a
into the local scene has been a great longing of mine. I’m
studio where you practice your art or do whatever you
hoping people will see their emotions, their experiences
want. Every Tuesday we had lectures of sorts. Artists,
and their spirits living on my canvases.
writers and critics from all parts of the world would speak to us or do studio visits. Those meetings were some of
Could you tell us more about Ga-Mamaila?
the most complex times for me as a human being. But as an artist, I must say, to this day I still keep what I learnt
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Most of the time when you hear about rural areas, villages
during those visits. Of course, some things that critics say
or townships, they are reduced to disadvantaged areas for
you flush away, absorbing what you need for your practice
previously disadvantaged individuals. Without taking away
to move forward. There was so much freedom to explore
from that reality, what has struck me about Ga-Mamaila
whatever I wanted without any pressure of failing or doing
is that living here is like living in a world of the senses.
something wrong or living up to the standards of grading.
People listen, people talk and people touch in a way that
It was great in that sense.
makes you more conscious of your surroundings. There is
After De Ateliers I was in-between residencies, trying to
a distinct sense of community – you see it clearly during
find a way to stay in the Netherlands. It was challenging and
social gatherings like aritsibaneng [a gathering between
fun at same time. Eventually I moved from Amsterdam to
family members to get to know one another], funerals and
a residency in Rotterdam. I realised then that I absolutely
weddings. Life here is also a bit slow. At times I feel like I’m
wanted to stay in the Netherlands because I had the
freedom and isolation to do my work. The Bag Factory was also a very important moment
within that history via discourse or conversation. The reflective type of nostalgia highlights a sense of loss and
for me as it was just after I had left art school. It was
longing. Here, you acknowledge that the past shouldn’t
an interesting time. I was confronted by the fact that I
be taken for granted, and at the same time one can see
just came from university but somehow I didn’t have the
it as a humorous or ironic thing because it reveals that
survival tools to be an artist. It was at the Bag Factory
reminiscing and critical thinking are not really opposed.
that Ntate Pat Mautloa and the late Ntate David Koloane as well as other artists from different generations shared
Regarding your choice of medium, specifically charcoal, and
everything about being an artist – how to practice and
paper cut-outs, these are both materials that have distinct
how to navigate a career in Johannesburg. I became a
traces of people, previous processes or a past life. Your work
permanent artist-in-residence, but then came time to do
seems to have clear intentions of reworking the past or
De Ateliers. The transition was interesting. Literally, my
bringing things back to the present, even in an altered state.
contract at the Bag Factory ended on 31 August and on 1 September my residency at De Ateliers started. It was
It’s not by chance that I use ink and charcoal in my
almost as if it was meant to be. It’s a really nice feeling
canvases. I’ve always enjoyed line drawing. I understood
when all these things fall into place. Both the residencies
at a very young age charcoal’s relationship to time and
were important for structuring me as an artist and as
ageing. It leaves a residue. I use ink and charcoal in a
a human being as well.
painterly manner and treat these with the same sense of care as collage. With residue there is evidence of life, and
Could you talk about nostalgia and collective trauma in your
what you see on the surface of the canvas is life. That’s
work? There’s collectivity in both happiness and struggle,
important to me.
especially in relation to apartheid and the post-apartheid condition. In his exhibition Objects of Desire, Addendum
You’ve used colour before but more recently you seem to be
Meleko Mokgosi poked holes into nostalgia to unravel the
focusing solely on working with black and white paint. Do you
complexity of the violence of history. Your work appears to
ever have the urge to paint in colour?
engage with or rework a similar notion of nostalgia, with an element of healing.
Maybe the urge to use colour will come at another time. For now, I don’t yet feel I have an understanding of the
My work certainly has an element of healing present.
scientific relationships between colours. When I do use it,
I think drawing, painting and collage are cathartic
it feels like there is something missing. I think as an artist
processes which are concerned with both reflective and
your gut always tells you this.
restorative forms of nostalgia. Restorative nostalgia acknowledges the past by revisiting it. It goes on a quest
What about the consideration of light when working in
to build on the past by closing any gaps that are visible
black and white?
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Installation view with Mpharanyana and Mokibelo, Stevenson, Johannesburg
I work with chiaroscuro which is a process that considers
musicians like Patricia Majalisa, Peta Teanet, Foster
light and shadows in painting and drawing. Admittedly,
Teanet, Shaka Bundu Girls. This music still lives in my
I still don’t follow the rules of this process because that
studio and I use it as a tool that transports me to another
would reveal too much and detract from the mystery.
realm. In order to work or be creative, some form of distraction is needed and the music does that for me.
There was an emphasis on printmaking in your early work. What motivated the shift to painting?
Apart from music, are there any other studio traditions that you cannot do without?
I started painting because I needed more room to attack or execute what I needed to express. Printmaking has
I consume a lot of tea when I’m creating, I can’t live
limitations in terms of scale, but painting gives you the
without it. It just goes with what my grandmother says,
freedom to go from left to right, over two metres, with
‘tee e tla o lapološa’ [tea will make you less tired].
a single brush stroke. There is no doubt that education can be one of the greatest Is there a relationship between fashion and memory in your
gifts of the human experience; however, it can also introduce
paintings? The attire of your figures looks somehow ‘retro’.
a new set of complications. Certain kinds of education can
Do you find historical references for the choice of clothes
lead to a generalised way of engaging with visual art, such as
the figures wear?
looking at a work’s formal elements, or looking through the artist’s biography. As someone who has studied in a variety of
As part of my research, I go to vintage stores to document
contexts, how important do you consider art education for
and sometimes purchase clothes, but I’m not looking for
an artist’s practice or development?
any specific moment in history. I seek out materials or props for my characters in the same way that characters
To me it’s like reading a coin: it has two sides. On the one
on a set in the theatre are dressed.
side, art schools can take away from an artist’s experience through the systemic issues around grading. How do you
I look at some of the paintings and I hear Jonas Gwangwa
even grade an artist? There was a tendency for artists of
and Papa Penny playing in my mind; each fragment, each
colour to have to over-explain themselves in any project
fixture, each brush stroke harmonising – all elements of an
they presented. At that time, not so long ago, I felt that
orchestra coming together. We’ve heard you play music in
conversation was brewing on how the art school does not
your studio – does it inform your thinking?
know what to do with artists of colour. On the other side of the coin, one accrues knowledge about art history and
I like that you mention Jonas Gwangwa and Papa Penny.
other artists through being in art school.
Growing up we had no choice but to listen to what our parents listened to on the radio. We were exposed to
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When it comes to institutions (including galleries, museums,
art fairs), as an artist do you assume any responsibility or
as getting influence from previous generations without
voice when it comes to how these spaces function towards
knowing the links, but now I could see it visually too. I
the public or the people directly in its ecosystem? Or is this
came to the conclusion that as artists, there are energies
something outside of the concerns of individual artists?
and spirits that existed before us that have made their way into our practices. I also think that it may be partially
As artists we are who we are because of these institutions,
attributed to historians’ tendency to group artists
and they are who they are because of the people directly
according to themes or similarities.
involved in their ecosystem. I wouldn’t say that this topic is outside of our concerns. I believe that institutions have
Who or what have been the guides in your practice?
a responsibility to be transparent in the way they navigate and put out information to the world. It is important
I am blessed to have had the guidance of several
that they are conscious and also acknowledge the times
individuals, outside the context of art. These are people
through their programmes.
that I exchange conversations with, a doctor, a teacher, a lawyer, an accountant, and through those conversations
Are there artists whose work you admire or respect?
they shape who I am as a human being. On the other hand I communicate with the artists with whom I participated in
A few years ago I participated in a group show, Tell Freedom,
my residency at De Ateliers and we continue to check on
which took place at the Kunsthal KAdE in Amersfoort. It
one another. I think it’s important to be well mentally,
was a group show of about 15 South African artists. Here I
and I appreciate having their support.
was exposed to artists who worked with different kinds of materials; the ones whose approaches and philosophies I
You mentioned that you learned artist survival skills during
admired most were Bronwyn Katz and Buhlebezwe Siwani.
your time at the Bag Factory and that they mostly applied to
Talking about another generation, I enjoy and respect
surviving in and navigating Johannesburg. Could these skills
Lynette Yiadom-Boake’s work, as well as that of Lubaina
apply to your time in Amsterdam and Rotterdam?
Himid – I respect what she has done for artists of colour and female artists in the UK and in the world at large.
There’s a difference but not a big difference. You could say that some of those tools are kind of universal. You can
Are you aware of the work of Nathaniel Mary Quinn?
apply them anywhere in the world just to stand and live as an artist. Some of the things I learnt at the Bag Factory
I learned about his work almost two years ago when a
I’m still applying today. Just sharing, for example, was an
guest artist from Chicago, David Schutter, visited my
important thing I learnt while there. Sharing information
studio at De Ateliers. He asked me if I knew Quinn’s work
is an important way to build one another as artists. But
and we looked at it together online. It was an amazing
some things are different because of the system. One
moment in the sense that I’ve always seen musicians
needs to adjust and also learn to absorb.
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Are there theories or particular texts that have lent
that expresses the fact that life continues in the midst of
themselves to your work?
all the socio-political arrangements of the world.
Yes, there are texts by the likes of Achille Mbembe,
Between Selobedu and Sepedi, how does language lend itself
Toni Morrison, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Right
to your work, particularly in terms of your titles?
now I’m reading a book edited by Xolelwa Mangcu, titled The Colour of Our Future: Does Race Matter in
It all stems from how I read and write. I read books that are
Post-Apartheid South Africa? I’ve also enjoyed texts
written in Sepedi and I write in Sepedi but the complexity
by Louise Gordon on existentialism and Emmanuel
of the language begins when I travel. For example, when I
Levinas’ concept of the face, or rather the face-to-
travel to Botlokwa or Moletši, people hear me and ask ‘Neo,
face-relation, and his other ideas on how humans
kgane o apa Selobedu na?’ (Neo, do you speak Selobedu?)
interact socially.
In Makhakhapatše or Tzaneen or Ga-Koranta, the people ask ‘Neo, kgane o bolela Setlokwa na?’ (Neo, do you speak
How do you think this is reflected in your work?
Setlokwa?) I would say, ‘No, nna ke apa Sepedi’ (No, I speak Sepedi). So I find myself in the middle of Sepedi dialects
There appears to be a dialogue between them. I often
since my language has an emphasis on the pronunciation
search for the other once I’ve rendered my collage
of certain letters in the words. You could say that I speak
paintings; maybe I am the other? Looking at my work
Selobedu – even in the school syllabus, the children or
it occurs to me that it is more about me and the viewer
the people in the community may speak a Sepedi dialect
as we have to interrogate what we see. At each glance
that could be heard as Selobedu – but actually we
the work changes because of the dismantled and
write in Sepedi.
sometimes rearranged physiognomy.
The titles of the works are taken from Sepedi or Selobedu utterances or poems that I feel don’t really make
The majority of your paintings have multiple figures,
sense. I take words from days of the week, from poems,
with only a few single portraits. Given that the current
from what someone might say. In a way, the titles have
pandemic has forced us to live in somewhat isolated
both nothing and everything to do with the paintings.
environments, have the ‘social gatherings’ in your paintings
Even with the title of this show, the direct Selobedu or
been a conscious counter to what we are experiencing?
Sepedi translation, ‘ka morago ga kgwedi’, would mean something else, ‘after a month’. There is a poetic nuance
My exhibition came at a time when I was making work
that is complex to translate. South African languages are
that alludes to events and situations that we wish or
notoriously difficult to translate into English.
long for. I didn’t know what we would be experiencing
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The titles offer clues to what’s happening in the
today so my work is not a counter to this but I’ve always
paintings but on the other hand they shouldn’t always
wanted to show people my universe, and it is a universe
be used to interpret the work.
The influences of Cubism and Dadaist collages appear to be
portrayals, of course from the viewpoint of his time. As
birthing a new generation of Black figuration. What do you
someone who works within the growing tradition of Black
make of this?
portraiture and Black figuration, what is your take on that?
Maybe this is a protest; we’ve seen and read about
To be honest, I’m just painting or drawing my life – Black
different movements, and the most recent and relevant is
life. I’m highlighting and emphasising certain forms of
Black Lives Matter; in philosophy, this is a multi-layered
humanity. This is my normal but I do know that whatever I
topic. In relation to my work and its materiality, I think the
read or watch has a way of coming into my studio. I feel that
different layers could be a metaphor. Gone are the days
in every painting or collage of mine, all forms of humanity
where we see things from one single viewpoint, and this
should be present. In these characters, for example, where
is what the aesthetics of the work encourages, for one
the person looks angry, sad or happy, it’s just part of being
to experience different perspectives.
a human. I do understand that we want to portray ourselves as positive, or as heroes. I know that I don’t like it when I
On Black existentialism, are you familiar with Aimé Césaire’s
see the media portray Black people as inferior, Black people
writing? He speaks of Negritude as an affirmation of the
in poverty … no, I don’t like that. But when it comes to my
Black body. Would you consider your approach to reflective
work, it’s important to expose or highlight this because it
and restorative nostalgia as affirmation of Black existence?
is part of who we are. It would be very weird if, 20 years down the line, people ask, ‘what was happening in 2020?’,
I’m not very familiar with Césaire’s writing but from what
and then they go back and only see pictures of happy Black
I know, perhaps my way of tapping into reflective and
people. That’s not true. It doesn’t make sense. That’s why
restorative nostalgia is a way of acknowledging Black
it’s important that I paint life as it is.
life and existence. At one stage in our correspondence, you mentioned that I saw on Instagram that you posted a snapshot of text from
some of the questions we asked were maybe too ambitious
Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You. The book came
or didactic in their terminology or references. I wonder what
out early this year, and touches on the tension between
your impression was about the words being used. The thing
WEB Dubois and writers that were part of the Harlem
about making paintings is that their impression is very fluid,
Renaissance – the tension in beliefs in terms of how Black
right? Because art or image-making is not as direct as text, do
bodies are portrayed. You have one side that says that it’s
you think that what you say through text or in this interview
OK to show Black bodies in strife and struggle because that’s
might be too direct for what you would like to say verbally
fundamentally part of the human condition. You know, you
and through your practice?
have moments of perfection and moments of imperfection as well. Then you have Dubois, who’s on the other side of
Even though I went to university, I was very opposed to
spectrum. He argued, mostly, for uplifting and dignified
the type of language that was used because it was really
43
Installation view with Mahlakung and ‘Modjadji o stout’, Stevenson, Johannesburg
foreign to me. When I read some of your questions I felt
be an artist of colour but I’m just painting experiences of
that my mother, for example, would not understand what
which I know no other. I was once asked by a journalist
I’m talking about because of the language. It doesn’t feel
why I only paint people of colour but that’s what’s within
OK for it to be this way. Some of the questions I was very
my reality. You don’t go back to the 18th century and ask
happy to answer and I was just writing away because I
Rembrandt, ‘Why did you only paint white people?’ I’m just
understood them. We are all in geographically different
painting my reality. There’s no other way for me. When I
locations and we are asking questions that stem from
dream I mostly dream of Black people, I dream in my own
our own opinions.
language. It’s my reality. I can’t over-explain that.
And to some extent, most of who and what we are can
Do you ever find yourself at a crossroads between truth
be attributed to cultural DNA that we have inherited from
and political correctness?’
generations before us. At the same time, this culture is not always something that one chooses to adopt, and more often
Art is a process, right? I don’t think I’m the kind of artist
than not, we are bred into politicised cultural pockets. As an
that’s like,‘there’s coronavirus!’ and the next thing is
image-maker or someone who documents life forms, how
that all my collages have masks. [Laughs] Just because
do you navigate the moral expectations or suppositions
something is happening doesn’t mean that I should
from your audience?
immediately respond to it with my art. I have a practice that exists on its own. Yes, I can respond to what’s
It is very difficult to have a conversation about my
happening in the world by engaging in conversations with
work without politics and race surfacing. My practice is
people, but just because it’s a part of our reality doesn’t
politicised against my will because everything is politics.
mean that I should bring it into the studio.
As I put my work out there I know I have signed up for
I know that I’ll be spending the rest of my life learning
subjective opinion and racial criticism. What is important
and improving my mental capacities. As my latitude
is to navigate the factors gently and with integrity.
grows, I’ll continue to be at the crossroads between truth
Everybody has an opinion. I know that a lot of us,
and political correctness. I’m glad that I don’t feel the
including me, are scared to voice our opinions in case
pressure to sound ‘woke’ because that’s now an ongoing,
someone says, ‘you’re wrong!’ Sometimes I have so many
complex conversation.
opinions but I don’t know how to articulate them. It’s great that you don’t feel you have to succumb to the Because English is a very specific language.
pressure of having to make work about every moment that’s going on, especially because you situate yourself in more
46
Yeah, and even though there are those expectations of
than one place in the world. It’s a lot to keep up with. But
what should come out of an artist of colour, I don’t feel
it’s also good that you recognise that there are other, if not
obliged to respond to that. I’m just making. I happen to
additional, ways of engaging with what’s going on around us.
It’s exhausting actually – waiting for information from the world to make art. Does success exist in the art world, and if so, what does that mean for you? For me, success is being able to embrace the uncertainty, the failures and the mistakes that one encounters during the journey that is one’s practice. It takes a lot to be able to reach that point. Another thing that is very important to me, as an artist, is gaining the respect of institutions and individuals who appreciate what you do. If you were not a visual artist, what do you think you would be doing? I would probably be a doctor as I love mathematics and sciences. Painting and drawing in the studio is like performing surgery in the operating theatre. Both processes entail solving a problem, which is what I love doing most of the time – solving problems in the studio.
Sisipho Ngodwana is an associate director and Dineo Diphofa a gallery assistant at Stevenson, based in Cape Town and Johannesburg respectively.
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48 Black Collages, 2017-18 Collage on paper, series of 48 collages 54 Ă— 40cm each
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Ashraf Jamal
Everything Genetic
‘Painting’, for lack of a better word. None will suffice, but it
paintings suggests that, as yet, no word exists to explain
is this word which recurs in an interview with Neo Matloga
what we euphemistically dub mixed-media.
for Neo to Love (2019), his solo show at the Fries Museum
Then why painting? Is it because of pedigree, because it
in Leeuwarden, the Netherlands.1 Painting? It is not the
carries a more enduring weight? Or is it because of what
medium uppermost in my mind. I see drawings in liquid
happens when one paints – the time it takes for layers
charcoal and ink. I see collage, photography. Perhaps it is
to dry? Is it because photography implies something
painting which links these media, contains their overlay
momentary – a snapshot? Then why not collage? Because
and interpenetration. There is something profligate and
it implies a tearing apart and a suturing, an arresting, re-
hybrid in their making. No single descriptor can absorb
stitching, a putting back together of discrete moments –
what Matloga is doing, what we see. His subject matter is
not time’s duration but its computation? For the artist,
peopled, domestic. His is a world of interiors – living rooms.
it seems that neither photography nor collage suffice.
If photography seems dominant – the photographs sourced,
They have their part to play, but they are not the main
torn apart, their fragments recomposed – it is because this
event. Matloga reserves that pride of place for painting.
overlaid medium is structurally prominent, occupying the
It is painting that keeps the ship afloat; that allows for
extremities of his figures (their fluid heads, hands, calves,
the time it takes to make a work; that allows one to see
feet). The photographic fragments are black and white, the
what is captured as a sustainable story. Painting lingers.
entirety of the works monochromatic. To describe them as
It breathes. It spans a time before and after the event
57
which Matloga presents. Painting is ‘a relationship’. It tells
immersed in themselves. They are in the painting, but
him ‘what to do’. Unlike photography, painting is not an
they are in their own worlds.’6 This distinction is vital.
abduction. It is not a stolen moment. Neither, as in the
Matloga’s dramatic personae are actors, but they are
case of collage, is it an accretion of moments.
also not. They are characters performing a role, yet they
2
If painting for Matloga is more durable, is it also
not typecast. They are living beings with all the foibles,
untimely? This fantasy has been argued to be anything
secrets, plots and hopes that no narrative can control.
but the case. Nonetheless, let us pursue the matter. Can
Matloga is not the puppet master. He ‘leaves room for
one say that painting is code for an art that refuses time?
imagination’.7 We roam amongst his figures as they roam
That painting is neither static nor narrowly dynamic (in
amongst our lives. Matloga’s paintings intersect worlds –
other words, neither photography nor collage)? If this is
those of his ‘characters’ (in relation to each other), the
the case, then perhaps painting matters most to Matloga
painter and his audience. The event – whether making
because it is all about duration – the time it takes to make
a painting or experiencing it – is not the result of a
a work of art, the time that painting, better than any
transaction or exchange. It is a living, breathing, organic
other medium, contains.
fretwork of feelings, intuitions and suppositions. It is
One drinks time. Time is what it takes to drink. One
breath that matters most; painting’s respiratory ability to
lives in it, because of it. In a world that has succumbed to
capture lived conditions, irrespective of the overlay and
instantaneity, Matloga has chosen time’s uncontainable
interface of applied techniques. Notwithstanding their
and suggestive fullness. His paintings are scenes, not
makeshift contemporary feel, is Matloga an Impressionist?
stills taken from scenes. The situations he paints – ‘people
The evocative quality of his paintings suggests so. The
dancing … eating … kissing … having a conversation’ –
relationships between people linger. They are ‘intimate’.
are redolent with suggestion.3 In the making and in the
Matloga speaks of ‘trying to document, trying to write
moment it is completed (or simply concluded), Matloga
notes’.8 His emphasis is telling. A painting is a record of
asks himself: ‘What actually happened before the scene?
an attempt, not the resolved result thereof. ‘In painting
What’s going to happen afterwards?’4 These questions –
I’m grasping the concept of life,’ he resumes.9 The artist’s
about time past, time future – are Proustian. They
inflection – trying, grasping – reveals the tenuousness
suppose a journey ‘that no one else can take for us, an
of the attempt. Matloga makes no claim, presumes no
effort which no one can spare us’. It is a journey ‘we must
judgment. The events he creates come with no final
discover … for ourselves’.5 Matloga invites us into his
disclosure. The ‘concept’ is always provisional. The lives
world and asks us to take our place within it. What we
he conjures are as varied as humanity itself. ‘No matter
see is not what he sees. The painter too is a wanderer.
the political landscape,’ he reminds us, ‘people do not
He asks what happened and what will happen. And we,
stop living their lives.’10 Everything Matloga states must
in turn, ask ourselves the same questions.
be understood as such. This is because the worlds he
What Matloga sees in his paintings are ‘characters …
58
are also more than the roles they perform. They are
because it carries the mystique of being out of time,
inhabits, which pass through him, are not designed
I have spoken of warmth, but what of conviviality? Mutual comfort? Pleasure? I find no melancholy in these paintings, no existential doubt. If his characters are ‘immersed in themselves’, it is an immersion wholly engaged with life’s promise.
How did Matloga arrive at the work he is now making? When I first wrote about him in 2016, he was painting in brilliant colour. Then, his faces were devoid of feature, his bodies defined by their apparel. It was clothing as a human sleeve which preoccupied the eye. The works, in hindsight, were tentative, unsure of themselves. On visiting the Cape Town Art Fair in 2020 I was struck by the fact that Matloga had made a profound shift, that he had ‘come into his own’, honed his message. There is no doubt that Matloga’s latest body of work, produced between 2018 and 2020, is a stunning contribution to South Africa’s image repertoire. While it holds fast to
to explain life, but to allow for its full yet inchoate
monochromatism, collage, and photography (a defining
tenderness. It is warmth one encounters – ‘intimacy’,
‘look’ and idiom in South African art), its expression does
‘temptation’, the subtle quavering of lives poised
not serve the ongoing belief in documentary truth, a
between reflection and anticipation.
binary optic and culture, or poor ‘make-do’ art. Something
Matloga’s decision to construct his worlds in such an
quite different is afoot. His ‘take’ on Black life refuses a
open-ended manner speaks volumes about his refusal
reactive or grievous turn. He does not seek, through art,
to complete a story. It is unsurprising that none of his
to address pre-existent and persistent political, economic
paintings possess a beginning, middle or end. Time will
or social injustice and inequality. Instead, he describes
not allow for such an easy narrative, and neither does
his recent work as ‘an archive of Black love’.11
life. What we witness are occasions filled to the brim with suggestion. I have spoken of warmth, but what of conviviality?
Matloga’s emphasis on the archival suggests the importance of an historical record. However, this view is scuppered by the artist’s interest in provisional and
Mutual comfort? Pleasure? I find no melancholy in
open-ended situations and experiences. It is not a
these paintings, no existential doubt. If his characters
history of Black South Africa’s hurt that compels him,
are ‘immersed in themselves’, it is an immersion wholly
but Black pleasures – then as now. Matloga is correct
engaged with life’s promise. One’s ‘own’ world need not be
in noting that the South African art-historical, cultural
a damnation, and neither need hell be others. This bleakly
and political record rarely embraced the quotidian and
existential view of reality, which Matloga refuses, denies
everyday, the fact that ‘people do not stop living their
both the rights of the self and the rights of community. In
lives’. Njabulo Ndebele’s insight in this regard remains
Matloga’s world, we are richly enjoined to ourselves and
enduring. His critique of the ‘spectacularisation’ of
to others. The delight, ease and pleasurable warmth his
Black life, his celebration of the ‘ordinary’, remains a
paintings generate stem from this fulsome vision.
defining and hugely enabling insight.12 In this regard,
59
Matloga belongs to an important revisionist tradition.
parts and regroups. Everything connects, reflects upon
But to frame his works thus is to limit, if not diminish,
the other. History only ever exists in the present. It is
their force. If Matloga is a highly significant artist for
the ‘hidden presence of others’ that informs our being –
our times, it is because he has minted anew the way
our intimacies and our temptations.
we see Black experience, how we engage with Black
Matloga’s interest in ‘intimacy’ and ‘temptation’
lives. His emphasis on the personal and subjective is
reveals the nature of the engagements and scenes he
of inestimable value. It is a fluid normalcy which he
constructs. As I have noted, they are rich with portent
brings to the fore – Black life immune to the psychic
and suggestion. Matloga does not produce a scene
and material disfigurement wreaked by history, a
as frieze or tableau, but generates lived and living
disfigurement that remains ever-present.
conditions. His art is a condition for life. While he claims
Looking at Matloga’s latest paintings, I was struck by
‘painting’ as his metier, it is how he uses photographic
their canny nous, their nowness. They were playful, light,
fragments – torn, sutured, placed together in ill-aligned
embracing. Rereading the essay I’d written in 2016, I
consorts – which is most striking. The technique is not
stopped and held my breath as I came upon the following
uniquely his own, but its application surely is. Despite
words from Divisadero (2007) by the Dutch-Tamil
appearances, Matloga’s faces are not aggregations
Canadian novelist and poet, Michael Ondaatje: ‘Everything
of discrete and relatively autonomous elements, bits
is collage, even genetics. There is the hidden presence of
and pieces from here and there – an eye, a mouth, the
others in us, even those we have known briefly. We contain
slope of a chin or ear – but a testimony to life as a
them for the rest of our lives, at every border that we
congregation of differences which allow us to
cross.’ Then, as now, it is human intimacy which I find
reconceive a person’s univocity.
13
strikingly in evidence in Matloga’s paintings. For Ondaatje,
Matloga’s world vision is not fragmented; it is the sum
and justly so, collage is not a pasted overlay of interactive
of fragments. It is not the join that matters (everything
but discordant elements, a mishmash of this and that. It is
is broken, everything must be joined) but the union that
‘genetic’. Collage is not the sum of remaindered traces. It
splicing affords. What makes us whole are the many
is the breeding and breathing ground where life converges,
parts that make us up. We are also one because of others. We are not defined because of the distance that separates one from another, we are defined because we embrace. All gestures, whether inclusive or distanced, suppose connection. We are never removed, one from another. The stitching of fragments may seem violent,
Matloga does not produce a scene as frieze or tableau, but generates lived and living conditions. His art is a condition for life 60
rough, deliberately unconcerned with any smooth mesh, but in Matloga’s case, its affect refuses incongruity. If his faces and bodies are paramount it is not because he refuses Black life as a pathological aggregate, or
because he wills its enabling unity, but, in spite of
struggle which underpinned it. For Matloga, the two are
negation and affirmation, because he chooses to show us
indistinguishable. Together they are our root, because
its enduring self-love and the importance of community
struggle – centred on ‘identity, relationships, cultural
in maintaining and engendering this love.
dislocation, racial conflict’ – ‘still resonates today in the
‘Men must endure their going hence, even as their coming hither; Ripeness is all.’14 Shakespeare’s famous
quest for a post-apartheid South Africa’.16 As Matloga bracingly reminded us, ours is a ‘not-
line finds its echo in Ondaatje’s assertion that all life
always-so-after-aftermath’.17 The sting is forked.
exists at a border crossing. Life may come and go,
Historical ills persist, but he also reminds us of parallel
our lives lived in passing, but nothing survives or is
worlds of pleasure, warmth, dignity. ‘People do not
sustained without connection. In 2017, Matloga remarked
stop living their lives.’ Then as now, what distinguishes
that he is accused of being ‘nostalgic’ – of holding
his approach is the desire to override paradox – the
fast to a utopian vision of Black life that was blind to
parasitic interface of illness and health. He may
persistent, often brutal inequity. ‘This affection for the
recognise the persistence of freedom and entrapment,
past has increased over the years,’ he said. ‘My age
bigotry and compassion (who cannot?) but as I observed
group are constantly accused of not knowing where we
then and maintain today, Matloga’s remains the pursuit
come from, but on a real note, the spirits and the ghosts
of a greater and more inclusive life. If Sophiatown – as
of the past still live in us. In a way, the historical and
a culture, a way of living – remains an enduring trope,
political context has become an everyday psychological
it must be understood as part and parcel of a greater
experience for me.’15 Genetic, psychological, socio-
metropolitan, continental and diasporic vision.
political and cultural, Matloga’s ‘everyday’ is also a world
Achille Mbembe’s concept of ‘Afropolitanism’
of spirits and ghosts. Everything occurs in the present.
articulates this vision for us. It refers to ‘an aesthetic
There is no past tense.
and a particular poetic of the world, refusing on
In 2016, I noted the immense influence of Sophiatown
principle any form of victim identity – which does not
on Matloga’s youthful imagination. At the time, it was
mean that it is not aware of the injustice and violence
clear that he was deeply inspired by the cultural force of
inflicted on the continent and its people by the law
that township in the 1950s and 60s – the time of writers
of the world’.18 It is as a ‘principle’ or credo that
such as Lewis Nkosi, Can Themba, Bloke Modisane, Nat
Afropolitanism distinguishes Matloga’s art. Its presence
Nakasa, Todd Matshikiza, Henry Nxumalo and Es’kia
was nascent in the pan-African vision enshrined by the
Mphahlele, and photographers such as Peter Magubane
creatives of Sophiatown, which assumed centre-stage
and Bob Gosani. At the hub of this cultural force was
in the figure of Sam Nhlengethwa (collagist, jazz fundi,
Drum magazine, the apogee of sartorial style and urban
historian of cool) who has doubtless inspired Matloga.
cool. But what matters is not only Matloga’s nostalgic
If Mbembe and Nhlengethwa are vital, it is because
love for what remains one of South Africa’s most potent
both choose to foreground that which is engendering.
creative periods – our Harlem Renaissance – but also the
As Mbembe notes:
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Our way of belonging to the world, of being in the
eating, kissing, having a conversation’ – are masterful
world and inhabiting it, has always been marked by,
reconstructions of the small and utterly profound
if not cultural mixing, then at least the interweaving
pleasures that a homespun life affords. They carry our
of worlds, in a slow and sometimes incoherent dance
past, intuit our future, but most of all they encapsulate
with forms and signs which we have not been able
our bounteous present. It is not ‘Black love’ that is their
to choose freely, but which we have succeeded,
sole purview, though this is emphatically the case. It is
as best we can, in domesticating and putting
not the normalcy of Black love which he feels compelled,
at our disposal.19
against the odds, to impress upon us. Nothing counterintuitive spurs their making. Neither regret nor
It is this greater sense of belonging which Matloga’s
hope impels them. ‘I’m grasping the concept of life,’
vision communicates. For him, however, there is no longer
Matloga says. ‘I’m trying to represent these people,
any hesitance. His multi-media works display an effortless
these characters … in all forms of humanity.’20 As the
‘cultural mixing’. Today, Matloga seems unconcerned with
artist utters these words his arms lift upward, his face
maintaining paradox. One senses no lack of freedom,
glows, and one shares the sincerity of his enthusiasm.
no compromise. His new paintings display none of the
We are all contained and embraced in that moment.
equivocation evident in the jarring phrase, ‘not-always-
Everything is genetic.
so-after-aftermath’. They are not the fallout of a difficulty or a syncretic attempt at reconciliation, but expressions that are disarmingly and seductively effortless. Matloga has claimed his world. His paintings may emerge in fragments, in bits and pieces pulled together, but their allure lies in their join. The pleasure derived from knitting together fragments is ancient. Beauty lies not in the broken pieces (say, of a broken clay pot) but in the soldering of the cracks, the re-composition of the broken pieces that make up a life. As Ondaatje reminds us, we all carry ‘the hidden presence of others’. In what are surely Matloga’s greatest paintings to date, it is this joining of lives, this connection between people, that is conveyed with a blithely astonishing ease. I cannot think of a more compelling response to human difficulty at this moment in time. His scenes and stories – a couple on a bed, a gathering in a lounge, on a porch, his visions of ‘people dancing,
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Ashraf Jamal is a research associate in the Visual Identities in Art and Design Research Centre, University of Johannesburg. He is the co-author of Art in South Africa: The Future Present and co-editor of Indian Ocean Studies: Social, Cultural, and Political Perspectives. He is also the author of Predicaments of Culture in South Africa; Love Themes for the Wilderness; an award-winning short fiction collection, The Shades; and In the World: Essays on Contemporary South African Art. His latest book, Strange Cargo: Essays On Art, is forthcoming.
1 Neo Matloga. 2019. ‘Neo Matloga: Neo to Love’. Fries Museum: YouTube (26 April 2019). Available online. 2 Ibid. 3 Ibid. 4 Ibid. 5 Marcel Proust. 2006. Remembrance of Things Past: Volume I. Translated by CK Scott Moncrieff. Ware: Wordsworth Editions, 775. 6 Matloga 2019. 7 Ibid. 8 Ibid. 9 Ibid. 10 Ibid. 11 Ibid. 12 Njabulo Ndebele. 1994. South African Literature and Culture: Rediscovery of the Ordinary. Manchester and New York: Manchester University Press, 57. 13 Michael Ondaatje. 2007. Divisadero. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 17. 14 William Shakespeare. 1880. ‘Act IV, Sc. I’ in King Lear. Edited by Horace Howard Furness. Philadelphia: JB Lipincott & Co, 315. 15 Matloga in Annicia Manyaapelo. 2017. ‘Fragments of Incredible Happiness’. Creative Feel. Available online. 16 Matloga in Ashraf Jamal. 2016. ‘Afropolitan – Neo Matloga’. SA Art Times (September 2016), 12. 17 Ibid. 18 Achille Mbembe. 2007. ’Afropolitanism’ in Africa Remix. Edited by Simon Njami. Translated by Laurent Chauvet. Johannesburg: Jacana Media, 28–9. 19 Ibid, 28. 20 Matloga 2019.
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Shaderack, 2019 Collage, charcoal and ink on canvas 165 Ă— 130cm
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66 Bo mam’gobozi, 2019 Collage, charcoal, liquid charcoal and ink on canvas 190 × 145cm
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Thabiso le Tshepiso, 2019 Collage, charcoal, soft pastel and ink on canvas 165 Ă— 135cm
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‘Nka nako go motseba’, 2019 Ccollage, charcoal and ink on canvas 165 × 200cm
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‘Ntsware ka tsoekere’, 2019 Collage, charcoal, soft pastel and ink on canvas 170 × 140cm
Madam le Sir, 2019 Collage, charcoal, soft pastel and ink on canvas 170 Ă— 140cm
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‘Bula pelo yao’ II, 2019 Collage, charcoal, soft pastel and ink on canvas 170 × 280cm
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76 Dikgang, 2019 Collage and ink on canvas 90 Ă— 490cm
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Labohlano, 2019 Collage, charcoal, soft pastel and ink on canvas 170 Ă— 200cm
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Kerese, 2019 Collage, charcoal, soft pastel and ink on canvas 165 Ă— 130cm
‘Kgopela o tle lapeng’, 2019 Collage, charcoal, soft pastel and ink on canvas 170 × 140cm
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‘Bina le nna’, 2019 Collage, charcoal, soft pastel and ink on canvas 200 × 165cm
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‘Bula pelo yao’, 2018 Collage, charcoal and ink on canvas 182 × 182cm
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‘Ka laboraro’, 2018 Collage, charcoal and ink on canvas 140 × 115cm
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‘Ka gare Dimakatšo’, 2018 Collage, charcoal and ink on canvas 145 × 190cm
‘Motsoala!’, 2018 Collage, charcoal and ink on canvas 166 × 130.5cm
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Darlie kea lemang, 2018 Collage, charcoal and ink on canvas 150 Ă— 150cm
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Meneer le mistress, 2018 Collage, charcoal and ink on canvas 166 Ă— 130.5cm
Mo spazzeng, 2018 Collage, charcoal and ink on canvas 140 Ă— 115cm
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‘Bolela re kwe’, 2018 Collage, charcoal and ink on canvas 200 × 260cm
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96 Taba tja Sontaga, 2018 Collage, charcoal and ink on canvas 260 Ă— 400cm
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O ska ngkarametĹĄa, 2018 Collage, charcoal and ink on canvas 160 Ă— 230cm
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Mokete wa Thabiso le Tshepiso, 2018 Collage, charcoal, oil stick and ink on canvas 200 Ă— 510cm
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Tiisetšo le Neo, 2018 Collage, charcoal and ink on canvas 245 × 275cm
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Mehopolo ya go fapana, 2018 Collage, charcoal and ink on canvas 260 Ă— 280cm
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Biography
Neo Matloga was born in 1993 in Ga-Mamaila, Limpopo,
Stevenson, Cape Town (2018); Koninklijke Prijs voor
South Africa, and is currently based between Ga-Mamaila
Vrije Schilderkunst, Koninklijk Paleis, Amsterdam (2018);
and Amsterdam. He studied Visual Art at the University of
Tell Freedom: 15 South African artists, Kunsthal KAdE,
Johannesburg, and completed a residency at De Ateliers,
Amersfoort (2018); Let’s See, Where Were We? In the
Amsterdam, with a focus on painting. Matloga won the
Pit of Despair, De Ateliers, Amsterdam (2017); Post Its,
2018 Koninklijke Prijs voor Vrije Schilderkunst.
Constitution Hill Museum, Johannesburg (2016); Time
A solo exhibition, Neo to Love, took place at the Fries
Line, Bag Factory, Johannesburg (2015); South African
Museum, Leeuwarden, in 2019, and a solo presentation
and Chinese Exchange, Workers Museum, Johannesburg
formed part of Good Morning Midnight at De Ateliers
(2015) and South African New Voices, Washington
in 2018.
Printmakers Gallery, Washington DC.
Group exhibitions include ofte vojagantoj, Wilford X,
He has taken up residencies at Foundation AVL Mundo,
Belgium (2019); Still Here Tomorrow to High Five
Rotterdam (2019); Thami Mnyele Foundation, Amsterdam
You Yesterday, Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art
(2018); Zeitz MOCAA, Segera, Laikipia, Kenya (2018) and
Africa, Cape Town (2019); Winter Sun, Stevenson,
the Bag Factory, Johannesburg (2015).
Amsterdam (2019); De Volkskrant Beeldende Kunst Prijs,
Matloga was nominated for De Volkskrant Beeldende
Stedelijk Museum, Schiedam (2019); BIG AND PLENTY,
Kunstprijs in 2019 and was among the artists shortlisted
Foundation AVL Mundo, Rotterdam (2019); About Face,
for the 2015 Taxi Art Award.
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Artist’s acknowledgments Much love to my family, Bo papa, Bo mma, Jenny, Thato, Pholoso, Matome, Thembi. Special appreciation to Tshepo, for being an awesome studiomate. My gratitude goes to you all for helping bring Back of the Moon to fruition.
Published on the occasion of Neo Matloga Back of the Moon 3 July – 5 September 2020 Stevenson, Johannesburg © 2020 for works: the artist © 2020 for texts: the authors Catalogue 95 September 2020 Front and back cover Mpharanyana (details), 2020, collage, charcoal, liquid charcoal and ink on canvas, 250 × 202cm Design Gabrielle Guy Photography Nina Lieska, Mario Todeschini, Neo Matloga Printed by Hansa Digital and Litho Printing (Pty) Ltd, Cape Town
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