Creator
Athi Mongezeleli Joja
Athi Mongezeleli Joja is an art critic based in Johannesburg, South Africa. A member of the art collective Gugulective, he is currently studying toward his MFA at the University of the Witswatersrand on the critical practice of late critic Colin Richards. His writing has appeared in publications such as The Mail and Guardian, Art Throb, Contemporary And (C&), Chimurenga Chronic, and Africanah.
‘When Rain Clouds Gather’: Acknowledging the role of Black women in South African art history
A new exhibition, When Rain Clouds Gather: Black South African Women Artists, 1940-2000, held at the Norval Foundation, is a corrective to the previous systemic exclusion of…
Black Luminosity foregrounded visibility as an act of refusal
The group exhibition at SMAC gallery, curated by Gcotyelwa Mashiqa, revisited the chromatic and social properties of blackness in contemporary South African visual art
Pretensions of fighting for the oppressed and the totality of white power
We should be wary of taking theories of commitment and agency as self-evident; we should instead question their unspoken assumptions as we also question the motivations attendant…
Drawing lines in art and politics
Judy Ann Seidman’s retrospective shows the complicity of antiblack racism in the white left
A Black Aesthetic lacks rigour
A Black Aesthetics as being uninventive and politically questionable
Fictive world is not escapist
Simphiwe Ndzube’s solo show in Cape Town offers no easy answers to deracinated utopias
Psychology of colour, texture
There is much more to the way Jody Paulsen uses his palette in ‘Water Me’
Ngobeni’s beautiful nightmare
The artist says our errors may give us the wisdom needed to confront these difficult times
Art and politics: Blessing Ngobeni brings us back to the reality
Despite seeming flamboyant or childlike, the artist’s latest exhibition As If You Care tackles pertinent issues and shows his penchant for politic.
Athi-Patra Ruga’s latest art shows ‘Azania’ without a purpose
Athi-Patra Ruga’s National Arts Festival show brings to mind a neo-avant-gardist catwalk display or an opening act for Lady Gaga, writes Athi Joja.
Simon Gush: Images, words and sounds expound on the global work ethic
Simon Gush’s latest exhibition interrogates the central role played by work in the construction and perception of our identities.
Writing’s on the wall for Robin Rhode
Now based in Berlin, South Africa’s ‘poet of street art’ is back home with an exhibition that signals his intent to keep ‘flipping’ the art world.
Story of destruction told through photos of eerie beauty
Photographer Cedric Nunn’s travelling exhibition puts the spotlight on the South Africa’s past that’s been neglected, distorted or forgotten.
Artist Kemang wa Lehulere’s journey through relics and erasures
Many of Kemang wa Lehulere’s signature items are present in his latest show, giving it a sense of being ongoing and transmuting.
Gallery Momo: No titles enable your own take
An exhibition of works by well-known artists and newcomers at Gallery Momo liberates the viewer.