Bubblegum Club

Tag: David Hockney

  • Stark flatness, pale skylines, muddy whites – The Architectural Paintings of Thenjiwe Niki Nkosi

    Thenjiwe Niki Nkosi was born in New York City and finished her art studies abroad before settling in South Africa. Inhabiting the role of a multiform artist, she works predominantly in film, performance art, and painting. She has noted before that she regards her paintings as a footnote to her practice. Her architectural paintings present a historical analysis of city spaces that she has occupied over the years.

    With a keen focus on establishing a narrative in her work, identity and belonging are two topics she explores in her work as she feels that these are concerns that she faces in her own life. Thenjiwe’s mother is a historian that subsequently led her to an interest in accessing her own history and the history of the places she lives and has lived before.

    ‘In Plain Sight (After the Tripode)’ 2013

    Expressing that her work is rooted in looking at moments in history, her practice began analysing the architecture of Johannesburg and how its current and former inhabitants have with the passing of time, both remembered and forgotten who they are. Buildings have the ability to live for a long time and therefore have specific memories attached to them impacting the way a city is viewed. They therefore act as physical reminders of history.

    Thenjiwe’s architectural investigation through paint has a particular interest in the history of apartheid and its effects on the lives of South African’s today. The titles of Thenjiwe’s architectural paintings convey strong emotions towards certain historical monuments from spaces that she has inhabited with titles such as ‘What Is It That You Keep Forgetting (After the Palais De Justice)’ a painting from 2013 that references a law court building in Paris. Her titles are an indication of how she is questioning the relationship that people have with certain building in their surrounds as well as the relationship she herself has. She asks her viewers why they are forgetting their history, or why they choose to remember it the way they do.

    ‘What Is It That You Keep Forgetting (After the Palais De Justice)’ 2013

    Stark flatness, pale skylines, muddy whites, greyish blacks and few colour pops within her architectural paintings act as an identifier of Thenjiwe’s hand. These haunting images that lack a human element simply show identifiable buildings taken over by foliage. These works ask what will happen to these buildings in the future which can be justified by looking at the title of ‘Emergent Phenomena 1 (After SABC)’ 2017, clearly a work speaking about the meaning of the SABC in contemporary South Africa. This can also be seen when looking at ‘In Plain Sight (After the Tripode)’ completed in 2013 that I believe makes reference to the Tripode building in France that was demolished. Is Thenjiwe then predicting or anticipating the fall of the SABC building you might ask? Perhaps, or perhaps she is referring to a desire for restructuring within government broadcasted television.

    ‘Facility’ 2015

    Thenjiwe’s architectural work shows many similarities in style to ‘A Bigger Splash’ 1967 by the artist David Hockney that also carries a strong architectural focus. Elements such as flatness and the use of a muddy colour pallet as well as small colour pops correspond with these works by Thenjiwe.

    Her architectural range of paintings asks us about our past and how we view and remember it as well as address issues surrounding identity and belonging. These are concerns that are focal to Thenjiwe as she comes from a mixed parentage and has lived in many places in her life. Her personal opinion is also conveyed in these works with the use of composition that emphasizes isolation as well as the coupling of loaded titles for her works.

  • Vincent Michéa // celebrating black consciousness with the use of photomontage and pop art

    The artist within Vincent Michéa emerged when he moved from Paris, France to Dakar, Senegal in 1986. Dakar, which has been called “the Paris of West Africa”, became heavily influenced by the Negritude movement after the nation obtained independence from France. Negritude was a black consciousness movement that aimed to counterbalance European colonial thinking by asserting pride in African cultural values. Paris became a meeting point for the African intellectuals that started the Negritude movement. The French educational system alienated them from their heritage so they united in the creation of a contemporary African identity through literature and politics. Senegal’s sovereignty was an organic moment for Negritude’s framework to permeate and heavily influence the physical and cultural architecture of the surrounds.

    Just once glimpse at Michéa’s works and it is obvious how deeply he was moved by the cultural rhythm that Paris and Dakar share. As Michéa said, “I paint the things that surround me, close to me, the within my sight: point of view in existential surroundings, consciously lived in but also consciously experienced.”

    After training as a graphic designer at the university of graphic arts and interior architecture (ESAG) in Paris, Michéa’s intent was to practice in Dakar. A year later and he had his first exhibition at the National Gallery of Senegal. Following this exhibition, Michéa assisted renowned graphic artist and photographer, Roman Cieślewicz for four years. Cieślewicz encouraged Michéa to pursue his career as a painter.

    Michéa’s works are riddled by Pop Art and feature the vibrant colours and hard edges of traditional West African textiles. He makes use of Ben-Day dots like Roy Lichtenstein in order to make his figures stand out from their surroundings. His works contain large areas of flat, unmoderated colour reminiscent of Ed Ruscha and early David Hockney and takes images of celebrities, like Andy Warhol.

    Michéa also makes use of photomontage. “I cut, I slick, I make incisions, I snip, I slash, I hack off, behead, I dismember…A table, scissors, some glue and images in shambles – Voila! The arsenal of a photomontage artist…Conceiving and manually producing photomontages with simple and common tools is a meaningful act that allows create sensitive images, charged with extreme tensions.”

    The glorification of Dakar’s past and the city’s contemporary allure is evident in all Michéa’s works and his closeness to the place, the people and the history may attribute to the effectiveness in which he captures the Senegalese. Despite his use of multimedia and his white gaze, Michéa manages to celebrate black consciousness and leave the vibrancy of blackness intact.

  • AKJP // ‘The Permanent Collection’ – Where fashion and art meet

    AKJP // ‘The Permanent Collection’ – Where fashion and art meet

    The fashion line AKJP came about through the collaboration ‘Adriaan Kuiters + Jody Paulsen’ between artists Jody Paulsen and Adriaan Kuiters designer, Keith Henning. The duo of AKJP both live and work in Cape Town and are well known for their artistic implementation and cutting edge kink on modern pragmatic mens and womenswear.The brand’s identity has been defined with sport enthused motifs and the expansion of robust prints for each collection that has been produced. Their signature style features have been defined with boxy silhouettes, asymmetrical detailing and the use of layering. AKJP is recognised both locally and abroad as one of the country’s most innovative brands and has showcased their latest collection the ‘Permanent Collection’ at SMAC gallery Johannesburg this past Tuesday. How the duo went about creating their new collection, what inspired them as well as the concept behind their campaign will be discussed.

    The ‘Permanent Collection’ is built on modish wardrobe staples as well as limited edition artistic prints created by Jody Paulsen. Intended to set a new foundation for the label and make allowance for the evolution of future lines. The collection is at present centred towards offering everyday wear for South Africans though there are plans to create high end capsule collections focussed on an international audience grounded in the ‘Permanent Collection’.

    The line consists of some defined men’s and women’s silhouettes and the larger majority of the range is comprised of unisex pieces. Classic styles with a renewed touch accompany chic easy to wear shapes available in twills and crisp cottons. The line contains its breaths of lavishness with pieces constructed from hemp, silk and leather.

    Experimentation with collage aided in the development of the artistic prints that enhance some of the pieces within the collection. Jody has drawn his inspiration from artists such as Hans Arp, Henri Matisse and David Hockney and created every design paper cut outs that were digitized and finally printed. To apply patterns to the collection different printing techniques were combined with fabric collage and embroidery.

    Conceiving the concept for the campaign during their design implementation, connections were drawn between the collection silhouettes and prints, and the kind of work that SMAC gallery artists produce. The campaign was photographed at SMAC gallery and takes a look at the relationship between three friends/lovers who have been locked inside the gallery over night. A strong sense of intimacy was captured between the three models by photographer Neil Roberts. The intimacy needed in the photographs were accomplished with ease which might be attributed to the models familiarity with one another due to working together on previous AKJP brand campaigns. The faces of the campaign are Jae Kim who has worked with AKJP from the age of fifteen, AKJP campaign and runway darling, Nina Milner as well as Daniel Defty.

    Jody and Keith’s intention to have the ‘Permanent Collection’ as everyday wear for South Africans is an aspiration that I believe is not wholly attainable as many of the pieces from the range evoke a lux mood because of the use of materials such as silk and delicate intricate sheer detailed pieces. Jody’s artistic prints inspired by artists such as Matisse and Hans Arp also contribute to this lux emotion that is evoked. There are however pieces that might fall into this bracket such as jeans and easy to wear shirt designs. The entire range can thus not be regarded as everyday wear. The brand continues its recognition locally and abroad as one of the country’s most innovative brands and a pioneer of modern day cool in the South African fashion vista.

    Credits

    Jewellery by Steffany Roup

    Hair and Makeup by Gareth Coleman