Nicholas Hlobo
Iimpundulu Zonke Ziyandilandela,
2011;
Installation view at the Arsenale
artthrob news
Venice Biennale lightning bird by Nicholas Hlobo sold on day one of the previews
By Sue Williamson on 12 June
Nicholas Hlobo’s Iimpundulu Zonke Ziyandilandela (All the Lightning Birds Are After Me) 2011 will continue to dominate one of the vast halls of the Arsenale until the 54th Venice Biennale closes in November, but, after that, this remarkable sculpture will find a new home in the collection of Jochen Zeitz, chairman and CEO of sportswear multinational Puma.
On the first day of the previews, Mark Coetzee, chief curator of Puma Creative, a company which has already demonstrated a firm commitment to advancing the profile...
Nicholas Hlobo’s Iimpundulu Zonke Ziyandilandela (All the Lightning Birds Are After Me) 2011 will continue to dominate one of the vast halls of the Arsenale until the 54th Venice Biennale closes in November, but, after that, this remarkable sculpture will find a new home in the collection of Jochen Zeitz, chairman and CEO of sportswear multinational Puma.
On the first day of the previews, Mark Coetzee, chief curator of Puma Creative, a company which has already demonstrated a firm commitment to advancing the profile of visual art in Africa, moved quickly to secure Hlobo’s piece for the collection. Hlobo is represented by the Stevenson Gallery in Cape Town. Eventually, the plan is for the work to assume a key piece in a new museum of contemporary art ‘somewhere in Africa’, says Coetzee.
Coetzee did not wish to reveal the price paid for the work, but pointed out that works of similar size and complexity by Hlobo were now fetching $250 000 on the international market. Iimpundulu Zonke Ziyandilandela is fabricated from the artist’s trademark materials of black inner tyre rubber, ribbon, fabric, and found table legs (the feet) to which the artist has added predatory silvered claws.
Like all of Hlobo’s work, the title is in Xhosa, and, as in many cases, refers to a traditional story. However, Hlobo points out that the rainbird, or the lightning bird who brings storms in his wake, is a creature that is found in local mythology around the world. With work at no fewer than three venues in Venice, it seems this young artist is creating his own myth.
