Popping up on numerous creative radars, Dada Khanyisa aka The Mighty Whale is propelling herself forward in the South African creative industry. A recent graduate from Michaelis School of Fine Art, the multi-faceted artist has already begun showing her sculptural paintings on big stages such as the FNB Art Fair in 2017 with Stevenson Gallery. The creative outputs are varied; from fine art to reconstructed custom sneakers, to tattoos, to murals (if you’re in Joburg peep the mural just completed at Constitutional Hill). Seemingly, at the centre of all these activities is a formal language that reflects the youth and street culture of young black South Africans. This formal language has it’s influences no doubt, but it’s clear that hours on hours of work have gone into refining Dada’s style. As her website states; “I paint as much as I sculpt and draw twice as much as I illustrate digitally.”
Image courtesy of Dada Khanyisa
A recent venture is a custom kicks project aptly titled ‘Conversations.’ An extension of Dada’s vast project of reconstructing sneakers to create custom kicks, this project focuses on reconstructed Converse sneakers and plays on the title to suggest it being open ended and not limited simply to a single narrative. A video made in collaboration with Chris Kets, Chawezi and Stiff Pap went public on Facebook, celebrating the artform of custom sneakers, and highlighting Cape Town’s rich house party scene, which serves as an inspiration for some of Dada’s paintings.
Image courtesy of Dada Khanyisa
The combination of fine art and fashion is nothing new, yet with Dada’s work it seems to take a fresh approach. Perhaps this is due to the particular narratives which gain exposure and are fore-fronted through her work, and perhaps it’s simply the vibrant and exciting ways in which the designs are executed and characters rendered? Either way, I’ll be taking 2018 to save for a pair of her custom kicks to treat myself with next Christmas.
Recent years have seen a creative boom within Cape Town. There is an energy of innovation afoot and this city’s creatives have the game locked down. Playing their cards with calm calculated steps they are pushing the boundaries and making a change within this creative climate. Identifying four of the individuals who have been integral in driving this new-found energy I spoke to them about their approach to success in an industry were the hustle means your survival. From one of Cape Town’s most intimate photographers to the creator of Booty Bass, the founder of Young & Lazy as well as a ceramic jewellery designer. What sets them apart is their ease within themselves, their passion for the game, their eagerness to mentor younger generations, their hunger for change and their inspiration found in one of the most beautiful coastal cities in the world. My pick showcases creatives laying a fresh foundation for future generations to come.
Jody Brand was born and raised in Cape Town and has a background in History and Media studies. With an intention of becoming a journalist, her initial styling and shoots were merely a fun past time. After assisting Richard de Jager she came to the realization that she wanted more ownership of her images that catapulted into a shift in her focus. Jody became known within creative circles for her photographic depiction of South African youth culture and has worked as a production manager for renowned South African artist, Athi-Patra Ruga.
Since her inception into Cape Town’s creative boom Jody’s lens has matured with her and her initial claim to fame has evolved to address problematic narratives. This year saw Jody’s solo exhibition, ‘YOU CAN’T KEEP A GOOD WOMAN DOWN‘ at the STEVENSON gallery comprising of photographic work, installation and performance art.
This arresting body of work addresses standards of cis-genderedness, whiteness and able-bodiedness. Questioning them and regarding them as despicable in their violence against different ways of identifying and being. One of her works in the exhibition is a digital print on fabric with the following words pigmented on to its surface “Come celebrate with me that everyday something has tried to kill me and has failed”. A powerful statement acting as a synopsis of her message.
Celebrating black beauty and rejecting western beauty standards it speaks of the difficulties that marginalized groups of people face within our socio-political context. Jody’s photographic eye is known for its candidly raw and instinctive nature has shaped itself into a calculated lens unfolding a carefully articulated narrative. Shining light on the truth of a narrative Jody comprehends as it acts as a self portrait of its capturer. Jody’s work is a response to our violent past as well as the malevolent nature of the photographic image itself.
ANG is originally from Johannesburg and has set herself apart as a DJ, radio host, promoter and artist manager. Her initial captivation with sound leaned itself more towards technicality than creativity. Her childlike curiosity pushed an increasing desire to comprehend the finer workings of things. “I would disassemble my boombox at least once a week, inspect all the parts and put it back together.”
Studying as an Audio Engineer she became absorbed by everything relating to sound and practiced as a sound engineer after completing her studies. Her shift from there into venue management branched into a DJ career. As a DJ she naturally progressed into online radio hosting with her own show on Assembly Radio.
“I actively pursue creating the spaces I didn’t have the privilege of enjoying when I first started playing. That has been my approach to my career from the outset and what has attracted other artists to working with me.”
Known for the genre Booty Bass that was born from her desire to give a succinct answer when asked to define her electronic music. She states, “The characteristic that got me the most attention was my defiance of genre constraints.” Booty Bass is a multi-genre, influenced by hip hop and RnB. It can be defined as bass driven dance music. “So whether its 4×4, 2step or club music it all makes your booty pop.”
Recently ANG has been named the head of SHE SAID.SO South Africa, a division of a larger global community of women from different branches within the industry working towards equality and the upliftment of women in music.
Reigning from Woodstock, Anees is the founder of Cape Town’s Young & Lazy. One of South Africa’s most compelling streetwear labels that was established in 2009. Completing his studies at the Cape Town college of fashion design, he knew from as young as the age of 10 that he wanted to be a fashion designer.
“My passion was always the construction of a garment. Coming from my background, how you presented yourself told everyone what your status was. Dressing well and caring about what you look like became everything and I got so deep that I wanted to only have things that no one else had. That’s what pushed me to start making my own clothes.”
The title of his brand was chosen to speak to likeminded individuals and ‘young and lazy’ pinpointed his audience. Anees’ initial designs emulated international trends that he subconsciously produced resulting from an aspiration to obtain similar levels of greatness. Recently the designer has shifted his approach to designing from a feeling or experience.
Looking into his heritage and role as a Cape Malay Muslim in South Africa, this wealth of culture is currently a main source of inspiration. Young & Lazy is growing up with Anees and is becoming the individualization of its creator.
Regarding his contribution to Cape Town’s creative energy as one done in collaboration with Cornerstore, Anees passionately states “I see Cornerstore not only as a shell for the brands but a place where the youth and the future of South African streetwear culture come to congregate, find their squad, find their bae. We encourage other people to build this industry with us and our brands act as platforms for even the kid in high school to collaborate with us.” His message to young creatives is to be unafraid of embracing who they are and to stay real, true and original.
Githan Coopoo is a 23-year-old creative from Cape Town making his mark on the South African fashion sphere with his abstract ceramic jewellery designs.
His infatuation with jewellery design was a late discovery in his life. Githan’s love grew only after his first piercing in 2015. “I just became enamoured with notions of adornment and opulence on the body.” Aware of his family line of Indian jewellers he did not initially consider it a personal interest till later in life.
Githan has worked in ceramic from the outset of his jewellery explorations. “I think of clay as something quite universal and accessible. It is literally earth.I love the idea of a relatively unassuming and inexpensive material being utilized and elevated to that of a precious status. I have invested in the fragility of the material after it has been fired.”
Inspired by found objects such as rubble and cement particles from construction sites he states, “I find a lot of beauty in rejected and dejected articles and objects.” Githan is drawn to working with white in his designs as it emphasizes the ceramic quality of his pieces and expresses that he is often persuaded to work within two tones. This choice makes his pieces chic and bold. The shapes that naturally occur from his process highlight a design that is minimalist and abstract.
Having produced capsules for Rich Mnisi and Gabrielle Kannemeyer for runway shows and editorials, this year saw his collaboration with New York’s Tibi. He created a capsule of earrings for their New York Fashion Week showcase.
Group exhibitions very often provide platforms for interpretation of art within a broader conversation. Whilst solo exhibitions situate an artist’s work within a concentrated practice and the questions that a particular way of working provokes, group exhibitions allow for a more contextual approach; which artists are working in what ways and how does this locate itself in the wider conversation of art making and culture?
The New Parthenon, which opened at Stevenson Gallery in Cape Town on the 20th of July and runs till the 26th of August, takes as its initial starting point the essay film, which has its roots as far back as film began to be a medium explored and interrogated by artists. Rather than simply tracing the history of the essay film or locating contemporary essay film works against their historical ancestors, new variables are added to the conversation through installations that incorporate objects as well as elements of photography, ephemera and performance. The relationships between the material and dematerial, image and object are at the core of the exhibition, and even extrapolate outwards through the use of the internet as the exhibition is also accessible as a tumblr page.
Bogosi Sekhukhuni, ‘Soul Contract Revocations; Dream Diary Season 2, Matilda’
A number of established and emerging artists are shown alongside one another, drawing links across a variety of practices that take multiple formal approaches to diverse subject matter. As the catalogue states, “The movement between film and object speaks to the dual nature of practices that work with both the tangible and intangible aspects of images.” It would almost be impossible to discuss all the works on show in this article and do them justice, so I’ll hone in on one specific work which I think begins to speak to the relationship between image and object, especially with regards to the form which film takes in a physical world. Bogosi Sekhukhuni’s Soul Contract Revocations; Dream Diary Season 2, Matilda, consists of three screens playing video mounted on a colorfully framed headboard. The videos depict the artist as orator or role-player against a swirling background of colour. The hallucinatory imagery and the placement on the headboard suggest a sort of dream state, a deeper more fluid state of mind, traversing the space between the conscious and unconscious realms. The intentional use of material and colour by the artist combine as both the form and the content intertwine to communicate something beyond words, a message preceding clear knowledge. The spiritual and the physical coexist and cannot merely be isolated one from the other. Bogosi’s own practice could be considered as an exploration of the ways in which the digital and the image manifest itself in the physical world. Signs and banners make use of digitally manipulated imagery prevalent to internet culture and advertising. The artist’s own Tumblr page serves as a research platform, a digital archive that could be compared to an artist’s visual diary.
Nyakallo Maleke, ‘You have got to fit into the team the team can’t fit into you’
The relationship between image and object is one that has been a point of exploration and contestation for many artists working in the past and present, and will no doubt continue into the future. Whilst film, photography, digital media, and the dematerialization of the art object seemed to spell doom for the physical object, years after the introduction of these debates, objects continue to be made. I find it particularly compelling that Thierry Oussou’s, La Poésie, a chair and stick installation was installed alongside video installations by Penny Siopis, Michelle Monareng, and Simon Gush. The challenge facing artists today is to interrogate these questions with new eyes; working thoughtfully through the tensions inherent in art-making, as through these struggles it may be possible for new understandings of our complex humanity to arise, beings consisting of mind, body and spirit.
Over the past few years artist Simon Gush has been thinking through how ideas about labour are constructed, as well as how labour is a factor which affects how people construct ideas about themselves and society as a whole. I interviewed him about his latest solo exhibition The Island showing at the Stevenson in Johannesburg which continues this theme.
How do you describe your work and your creative process?
The major part of my production over the last few years has been thinking around the problem of work. Not the problems of specific workplaces or jobs, but the central role work plays in society and the manner in which it affects how we think of ourselves. In particular, I am critical of the moralising of work. Ideas that: ‘Work makes us better,’ or “Hard work is good for you,’ are common inanities that circulate, which I take issue with. This has led me to look at histories of labour movements and the concepts of the work ethic. Specifically, my work has dealt with subjects like public representations of labour, the concept of laziness, strikes, the history of worker migration and resistance to work.
I work mainly in the form of essays, video and photography, moving between images and text. I find that I am able to approach my material differently by using both writing and image, each of which have particular ways of thinking. I am able to do more work at their intersection. When I finish a film or an essay, I find that there are questions that I could not answer in the piece. There is only so much I can do in one work. The unanswered questions then become the starting point for the next project. My essays are written and produced from my personal perspective, comprised of thoughts and anecdotes from my working life, intermingled with research around work; historical, political and ideological. It is important for me to place myself within my work.
Can you give some background on your exhibitions ‘Workplace’ (2015) and ‘Work’ (2013)? How is ‘The Island’ a continuation of or addition to the themes you looked at in these exhibitions?
‘Work’ and ‘Workplace,’ were centred around questions of work ethic and the moralising of work. The artworks that made up these exhibitions began to identify the way work is constructed in our society, the ideological aspect of work. I was conscious that, while there is a dominant idea of work, a colonial construct, society is never homogeneous. I started to realise that, in order to understand a place like Johannesburg, you can’t only look at the place itself. As this is a city built on migrant labour, I needed to start to investigate other places that have historically impacted on how work is formed here, especially those from which workers were sent.
‘Workplace’ was the first product of this research and took the form of a photographic essay about Mozambique. It tried to deal with the history of movement between here and Maputo. Not just by workers, but by disparate people, from the Voortrekkers to ANC exiles during apartheid. ‘The Island’ is a more in-depth look at the effects of systematic labour migration on the relationship between South Africa and Lesotho. Lesotho and Mozambique were historically the largest suppliers of migrant labour to the mines.
Tell our readers about your exhibition ‘The Island’?
‘The Island’ is centered around two major works, the eponymous photographic series, ‘The Island,’ and a new film essay, ‘Invasion.’ ‘The Island’ attempts to see Lesotho beyond the image of migrant labour. I started by looking at the sites of work within Lesotho; the factories, municipal offices, mines and so on. While I was doing this, I was thinking about the fact that the ANC used to call Lesotho “the island,” during the anti-apartheid struggle. This gave me the metaphor from which to start to differentiate Lesotho from South Africa, which surrounds it. The idea of the island also provided a way of thinking about how the forms of dependence and relationships between the two countries might be better understood. I was drawn to how the sea (in this case South Africa) serves as a resource for the island and an integral part of its economy and ecology.
Looking at these connections led me to research the Katse Dam, which provides water to Gauteng. I was interested in the invasion that happened in 1998, when South Africa entered Lesotho, on behalf of SADC, to stop protests around elections that had taken place there. I found out that, during this occupation, the SADC bombarded the Lesotho Defence Force base at Katse Dam. Six months earlier, Lesotho’s water had first begun to flow to South Africa. Because of this, the attack on the base didn’t make sense; except as a power play around the water. The military justification seemed tenuous. While researching this, I met an eyewitness to the attack. The film re-enacts two interviews I did with this witness. I had made an agreement with him to keep his testimony anonymous, hence the re-enactment, but it was also a way to make visible how histories are reconstructed and told. The re-enactments were done with the actor Phillip Dikotla.
Expand on your comment ‘thinking about a space that is thinking about someplace else’ relating to movement of people and resources between countries?
Around sixty percent of Lesotho’s population works in South Africa and will only return in December for the holidays. With the exception of the civil services, most of the formal jobs that are there are somehow connected to elsewhere. The factories are foreign-owned and the products are sold elsewhere. The diamonds from the mines are taken elsewhere to be cut and sold. There seems to be a sense of the displacement that pervades the space. This makes it a place that I had to keep thinking of, not in fixed terms, but according to flows, in and out of the country. This is, of course, true of other countries, but in Lesotho it is very present. It is a place that is hard to tie down. I like this idea as way to think about the local without the rhetoric of nationalism.
Why the focus on Lesotho?
The project started when I was by invited Lerato Bereng, (a South African based Basotho curator) to come to Maseru to do some research. She thought that I would be interested in the way in which flows of labour become visible there. At the same time, I had just visited Maputo. I had a feeling that the presence of the history that connects Mozambique with South Africa was something I wanted to speak to. In the beginning, I thought I would include other countries in the region that also have these links to Johannesburg and South Africa, and are similarly defined by labour, but it was too much for me to take on. It takes time to get a feel for the place and to start to see and understand the aspects that are of interest to the project, which not always immediately available. I have been working on this project for 3 years now and I am only just starting to feel like get some of what is going in the places I have visited.
The Island will be on show until 7 April.
Ministry of Social Development storeroom, central business district, Maseru
In this week’s episode of Bubblegum Club Stories we feature Bogosi Sekhukhuni for his first solo exhibition with Stevenson gallery in Johannesburg, titled Simunye Summit 2010. We chat to founder of the online store RHTC, Mpumelelo Mfula, about their recently opened space in Braam and his vision for local streetwear. We also visit artist Blessing Ngobeni’s studio and he lets us in on what he has planned for the this year’s Joburg Art Fair. We bumped into the co-founders of fashion label Prime Obsession, the lovely Shelley Mokoena and Keneilwe Mothoa, at the Levi’s 501 launch in Sandton and they share some styling tips with us. We also feature young photographer Phumzile Khanyile’s first solo exhibition Plastic Crowns currently showing at the Market Photo Workshop.
