Untitled (Speech Bubbles-Lebo)
2006 - Drawing & Print (Drawing & Print)
140 x 100 cm
Moshekwa Langa
In “Untitled II (Mapping text)”, 2009, Langa abstracts language in an attempt to change the familiar into the absurd. With reference to comic speech bubbles, Langa combines in a sea of blue gouache a series of nuanced references to identity and politics with “Black Maria” alongside nostalgic and subtle phrases such as “mom be with me, I need u now” and “I didn’t listen.” Through this gathering of references “Untitled II (Mapping text)” forges a poetic and vulnerable site to engage with his personal experiences while simultaneously suggesting the senseless structure of language. This work resonates to larger world of art, politics and popular culture through layering assorted references, piling up meanings that are cryptic and ambivalent, yet resonant with multiple interpretations. With his drawings and gouaches Langa illustrates how creativity is the freedom to make connections. Using abstract expression, free association and stream of consciousness, his work is fortuitously created. Drawing from daily life, routine, boredom and indifference as his influences, Langa emphasizes the viewing-experience as a sensuous and seductive process in the creation of meaning. “Untitled II (Mapping text)” documents the rituals of sangomas, grieving, gossip and love, mapping the artist’s encounters, using slogans and poetic epigrams to bring together scraps and residues of history.
The oeuvre of Moshekwa Langa (b. South Africa, 1975) is a study on media and technique: gouaches, collages, expansive installations, and videos. Langa avoids aesthetic harmony, denying a generalization for themes, contexts and subjects in his oeuvre. The mapping of a complex diasporic identity from his rural South African beginnings, to Johannesburg and his current situation in Northern Europe permits Langa to negotiate territorial hegemony, exploitation, identity and social mechanisms of inclusion and exclusion with a nuanced understanding of place. Gaining recognition first for his New Visual Atlas series, Langa embraces ordinary found objects––photographs, balance sheets and invoices––to rethink our familiar surroundings. While initially experimenting with text and drawing, Langa later expanded into sculptures of corrugated iron and cement bags, which stirred his investigation into alternative media. After moving to Johannesburg to work as a contributing producer for the SABC, Langa left Africa in 1997 to attend the Rijksakademie in the Netherlands.
Colors:
Related works sharing similar palette
© » KADIST
Newell Harry
2015(Untitled) Nimoa and Me: Kiriwina Notations by Newell Harry brings together a litany of contemporary politics—mobilization around enduring racism, the legacies of Indigenous and independence struggle, and the prospects of global solidarity against neocolonialism and social injustice...
© » KADIST
Prabhakar Pachpute
2014“Dark Clouds Of The Future” is a cinematographic video animation of the abandoned gold mine in Brazil, Serra Pelada (“Naked Mountain”)...
© » HYPERALLERGIC
AI Artwork Projected on Historic Gaudí House Draws Nearly 100K People Skip to content Sofia Crespo, "Structures of Being" (2024), projection mapping at Casa Batlló (photo by Claudia Maurino, courtesy Casa Batlló) BARCELONA — Architect-designer Antoni Gaudí, legend of Catalan Modernisme, is often quoted as having said, “Nothing is invented, for it’s written in nature first.” Whether or not that’s apocryphal, his legacy suggested something holier than human at work...
© » ARTS EQUATOR
Open Call for AE x Goethe-Institut Critical Writing Micro-Residency 2021/2022 | ArtsEquator Thinking and Talking about Arts and Culture in Southeast Asia ArtsEquator Viewpoints March 12, 2021 ArtsEquator and Goethe-Institut Singapore are pleased to announce the launch of the inaugural AE x Goethe-Institut Critical Writing Micro-Residency 2021/2022 ...
© » KADIST
Tirdad Hashemi
2022The Blue Poisoning series , reveals the outcome of artist Tirdad Hashemi’s weary and depressed days in the winter of 2022, following their second migration from Paris to Berlin...
© » ART AND CAKE
In the Trenches: Artists Encounter the Los Angeles River, Part 1 – Art and Cake August 30, 2023 August 30, 2023 Author In the Trenches: Artists Encounter the Los Angeles River, Part 1 Michelle Robinson 2023 What Was 4th Street Acylic paint on print 40×60 in By Lawrence Gipe In the mid-1980’s, I lived on Santa Fe Avenue and 7th Street, and the idea of Los Angeles having a “river” was a bit of a joke...
© » KADIST
Kelly Sinnapah Mary
2021Notebook 10 , l ‘enfance de sanbras (The Childhood of Sanbras) series by Kelly Sinnapah Mary is a sequel to an earlier series by the artist titled Cahier d’un non retour au pays natal (2015)...
© » ART AND CAKE
In the Trenches: Artists Encounter the Los Angeles River, Part 1 – Art and Cake August 30, 2023 August 30, 2023 Author In the Trenches: Artists Encounter the Los Angeles River, Part 1 Michelle Robinson 2023 What Was 4th Street Acylic paint on print 40×60 in By Lawrence Gipe In the mid-1980’s, I lived on Santa Fe Avenue and 7th Street, and the idea of Los Angeles having a “river” was a bit of a joke...
© » KADIST
Sandra Monterroso
2023Presented as part of a recent group of works titled The Paradox of Healing, Rhombus for Healing No...
© » ART AND CAKE
In the Trenches: Artists Encounter the Los Angeles River, Part 1 – Art and Cake August 30, 2023 August 30, 2023 Author In the Trenches: Artists Encounter the Los Angeles River, Part 1 Michelle Robinson 2023 What Was 4th Street Acylic paint on print 40×60 in By Lawrence Gipe In the mid-1980’s, I lived on Santa Fe Avenue and 7th Street, and the idea of Los Angeles having a “river” was a bit of a joke...
© » ARTS EQUATOR
Weekly Picks: Malaysia (16 – 22 July 2018) | ArtsEquator Thinking and Talking about Arts and Culture in Southeast Asia Malaysia July 16, 2018 Hua (華) Settler Imaginary in Borneo , at Malaysia Design Archive, 19 July 8pm Academic Dr Zhou Hau Liew presents ‘ Preliminary Thoughts on the Hua Settler Imaginary in Borneo: Cultural Mapping, Revolutionary Communism, and the Ideas of Chineseness ’...
© » LE MONDE
La loi sur le mécénat fête ses 20 ans en attendant un enrichissement Offrir Le Monde Article réservé aux abonnés Au colloque organisé lundi 11 décembre, au Musée Guimet, à Paris, pour les 20 ans de la loi sur le mécénat qu’il avait portée, l’ancien ministre de la culture Jean-Jacques Aillagon devait être le roi de la fête, mais le Covid en a décidé autrement...
© » KADIST
For the first time ever, the jury decided to equally award all four candidates and invite them to participate in the Tbilisi 7 festival* organized by Kunsthalle Zürich in Tbilisi, Georgia, in early September 2016, namely Geraldine Beck & Miriam Laura Leonardi , Marc Hunziker & Chantal Kaufmann & Rafal Skoczek (UP STATE) , Leila Peacock , and Ramaya Tegegne ...
© » LENS CULTURE
Living in the Transition - Photographs by Shunta Kimura | Text by Magali Duzant | LensCulture Award winner Living in the Transition Traveling through Gabura Union in Bangladesh, Shunta Kimura documents impact, adaptation, and resilience in his quiet photographs of everyday life on the frontlines of rapid climate change...
