Santu Mofokeng

Current Review(s)

Santu Mofokeng, Chasing Shadows: 30 Years of Photographic Essays

Santu Mofokeng at Jeu de Paume

Jeu de Paume, Paris (24 May – 25 September 2011); Kunsthalle Bern (7 October – 27 November 2011), Bergen Kunsthall, Extra City Kunsthal Antwerpen and Wits Art Museum, Johannesburg (dates TBC)

Curated by Corinne Diserens, 'Chasing Shadows' is Mofokeng’s first European retrospective and his most important survey outside of South Africa to date.  Accompanied by his first comprehensive (and desperately needed) monograph, the prospect of the exhibition is a terrifically exciting one; a long overdue reassessment of the ongoing under-representation in Europe of one of Africa’s most important photographers. He is, of course, a recognised figure, but remains – in relation to those such as Goldblatt – one for whom there is still catching up to do, post-apartheid.  A great start, then, is this four-pronged European tour (which arrives in Johannesburg in 2013), and a fresh batch of insightful scholarship.

24 May 2011 - 25 September 2011

Listings(s)

'Darkroom: Photography and New Media in South Africa since 1950'

Sue Williamson, David Goldblatt, Roger Ballen, Santu Mofokeng, Jurgen Schadeberg, Tracey Rose, William Kentridge, Zwelethu Mthethwa and Nontsikelelo Veleko at Virginia Museum of Fine Arts

An exhibition that considers photography’s role in South Africa’s composite transformation, Darkroom: Photography and New Media in South Africa since 1950 includes 18 artists who span four generations, including Jürgen Schadeberg, Santu Mofokeng, Andrew Tshabangu, David Goldblatt, Sue Williamson, Thando Mama, Zwelethu Mthethwa, Nontsikelelo Veleko and William Kentridge.

The exhibition's eight sections highlight the ways that these artists have addressed South African culture from various perspectives, and their increased presence in the global art world since 1994. 'The social and political transformation of South Africa is one of the most remarkable stories of the second half of the twentieth century,' says Alex Nyerges, director of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. 'To engage with it directly through the eyes of those who experienced and documented the anguish, turmoil and elation of the period is both uplifting and thought-provoking.'

21 August 2010 - 24 October 2010

'Events of the Self: Portraiture and Social Identity'

Jo Ractliffe, Guy Tillim, Kay Hassan, Berni Searle, David Goldblatt, Santu Mofokeng, Hentie van der Merwe, Pieter Hugo, Zanele Muholi, Candice Breitz, Zwelethu Mthethwa and Nontsikelelo Veleko at The Walther Collection

The Walther Collection opens to the public on June 17, 2010 with 'Events of the Self: Portraiture and Social Identity', introducing works from its African collection. Under the curatorial direction of Okwui Enwezor, the exhibition comprises a series of four projects filling all nine galleries in the three buildings of the new exhibition space in Burlafingen near Ulm, Southern Germany. The exhibition integrates the work of three generations of African artists and photographers with that of modern and contemporary German photography. This combination of African and German works will serve as a model for the kind of curatorial process that animates the character of the collecting program.

Works in the collection include those by Berni Searle, Candice Brietz, Nontsikelelo Veleko, Zanele Muholi, Hentie van der Merwe, David Goldblatt, Kay Hassan, Pieter Hugo, Guy Tillim, Zwelethu Mthethwa, Santu Mofokeng and Jo Ractliffe.

17 June 2010 - 17 October 2010

'Appropriated Landscapes'

Jo Ractliffe, Guy Tillim, Jane Alexander, David Goldblatt, Penny Siopis, Santu Mofokeng, Angela Ferreira, Sabelo Mlangeni, Zanele Muholi and Mikhael Subotzky and Patrick Waterhouse at The Walther Collection

'Appropriated Landscapes' explores landscape typologies in South Africa, Namibia, Angola, and Mozambique, and presents works by fourteen artists, including Jane Alexander, Ângela Ferreira, David Goldblatt, Sabelo Mlangeni, Santu Mofokeng, Zanele Muholi, Jo Ractliffe, Penny Siopis, Mikhael Subotzky/Patrick Waterhouse and Guy Tillim.

Many of the artists presented in 'Appropriated Landscapes' have created images through topographical studies, explorations of nomadic peripheries and in-between spaces, or chronicles of social geography altered by divisive spatial planning and modern architecture. The concept of landscape here is not linked to historical notions of the picturesque and the sublime. Instead, the exhibition considers landscape as a prism of experience, a reflection of ideology, and a stage for the performance and perception of identity. Whether sweeping views, architectural compositions, or portraits, the varied works in the exhibition remind us of the density and richness of the notion of landscape, the complexity and subjectivity of its depiction - and ultimately, of our own spiritual, emotional, personal, and political relationship to it.

16 June 2011 - 13 May 2012

'Santu Mofokeng, Chasing Shadows: 30 Years of Photographic Essays'

Santu Mofokeng at Jeu de Paume

The exhibition and the accompanying book bring together a unique selection of the photographic essays made by Santu Mofokeng over the last thirty years. Well-known for his projects Black Photo Album/Look at me: 1890-1900s, Township Billboards: Beauty, Sex and Cell Phones, Trauma Landscapes and Chasing Shadows, the South African artist took the opportunity of the invitation for this show and the production of his first comprehensive monograph, to delve deep into his artistic archive.

'Santu Mofokeng, Chasing Shadows – 30 Years of Photographic Essays' presents a selection of more than 200 images (photographs and a slideshow), texts and documents. The photographic essays he composed over the years, some of which are a life-long work in progress, range from the Soweto of his youth, from his investigations of life on the farms, the everyday life of the township and in particular, representations of the self and family histories of black South Africans, to images from the artist’s ongoing exploration of religious rituals and of typologies of landscapes, including his current project Radiant Landscapes, commissioned specially for this retrospective.

24 May 2011 - 25 September 2011

Paris Photo

Jodi Bieber, Joel Andrianomearisoa, Billy Monk, David Goldblatt, Santu Mofokeng, Andrew Tshabangu, Cedric Nunn, Pieter Hugo, Mikhael Subotzky, Viviane Sassen, Moshekwa Langa, Zwelethu Mthethwa and Nontsikelelo Veleko at Grand Palais

The annual Paris Photo will celebrate its 15th anniversary at the Grand Palais, featuring 117 galleries from some 23 countries presenting the best of 19th century, modern and contemporary photography in the heart of the French capital. This year's special focus is on African photography from Bamako to Cape Town, with several South African artists in the spotlight in the main venue as well as on other shows around the city (such as the skyroof of the Gare du Nord station). South African galleries  STEVENSON, Goodman Gallery, Bailey Seippel, and Gallery MOMO will be exhibiting.

10 November 2011 - 13 November 2011