Despite their different styles and approaches to artmaking, Samson Mnisi and Sam Nhlengethwa share a similar career trajectory.
Born nearly two decades apart, both started their careers with a defiant political stance — Nhlengethwa fighting apartheid and Mnisi working in the ANC liberation structures. They both passed through the Federated Union of Black Artists (Fuba) in Johannesburg — Nhlengethwa as a teacher and Mnisi as a pupil. And both have proved it is possible to create socially conscious contemporary work that garners international and local commercial success.
Mnisi and Nhlengethwa are seeing in the summer in the Cape with two separate solo exhibitions opening this month. Mnisi’s Momentum Rituals at Worldart continues his investigation into African symbolism, evoking spiritual connections and social rituals to create a new visual language. In Nhlengethwa’s new exhibition Current Events at Is Art, his energetic semi-realist paintings also engage the social rituals and shared musical language that define contemporary South African life.
Samson Mnisi is on show until December 3 at Worldart Gallery, 54 Church Street, Cape Town. Tel: 021 423 3075. Sam Nhlengethwa shows until December 6 at Is Art, Ilse Schermers art gallery in Le Quartier Français, 16 Huguenot Street, Franschhoek. Tel: 021 876 8443.
? Erdmann Contemporary isn’t an easy gallery to pigeonhole. It’s not as big and flashy as the Goodman or Stevenson galleries. It’s not as young and hip as Whatiftheworld. It’s not as commercially focused as the Everard Read.
Rather, the gallery owes its ongoing success to its unflagging commitment to the artists in its stable, a large dose of good, old-fashioned hard work and plenty of passion. The gallery’s annual summer group exhibition is proof of all these qualities. Focused on painting, it’s an understated, solid show that contrasts narrative-driven portraiture with landscape works that tell diverse stories. Names include Mark Hipper, David Hlongwane, Diana Hyslop and Manfred Zylla, alongside works by newer talents and introducing Mozambican painter Bernardo Carrula Tomo.
Erdmann Contemporary, 63 Shortmarket Street, Cape Town, until December 31. Tel: 021 422 2762. Website: www.erdmanncontemporary.co.za.