'Timpuku' (Wings) by Phillip Rikhotso
by Robyn Sassen
Phillip Rikhotso was working productively and articulately long before he won any competitions or sold much work. On one hand, this defines and consolidates the worthiness of his status as 2004's Brett Kebble Artist, albeit jointly with Tanya Poole. On the other, his winning has consolidated the credibility of the Brett Kebble Art Awards (BKAA) in terms of its sensitivity to artists working outside of the contemporary rubric.
Comprising 11 installations, Rikhotso's exhibition, entitled 'Timpuku', is potent in terms of the rich and heady mix of cultural anachronism, hybrids and visual links that promote discomforting laughter. From beautifully conceived walking sticks to works which tell a tale of urban reality and myth, blurring the distinction between the two, and further blurring the distinction between anthropomorphic and monstrous qualities, the exhibition is fresh. It is replete with pointed comments, dialogic metaphors and easy-to-look-at works.
A work entitled Ku Ntlhontlha (The confrontation) in the gallery window represents a curiously serene installation of two figures: one, a man, the other, a hybrid beast in garish colours. They face one another and bow. It is not clear whether the bow is a prelude to a violent confrontation, but the gesture is evocative in its universal sense of acknowledgement or respect. The piece is layered with narrative, some implied, others drawing from Tsonga mythology central to Rikhotso's discourse.
Rikhotso ably plays with elements of fantasy and displacement, and while he might be rapidly becoming recognised for the signature piano-key-like teeth, large toes and poppy eyes of many of his figurative works, there is a deeper sense of narrative meaning and belief hidden in them.
In the installation Swivandzana (Creatures who eat people), we see neatly painted creatures. They're playful and crazily put together, yet we understand them to be dangerous and sinister. The installation of five walking sticks works within a long tradition but does so with an edge which is endemically and undeniably Rikhotso, putting a fresh spin on the art/craft debate. Works like Jabulani na xihloka (Jabulani and the axeman) present an evolved dark symbolism, representing Christian values as somewhat less than benevolent. These works beg comparison with some of Norman Catherine's.
It might have taken Rikhotso a long time to attain the fame he now courts, but this reflects more on his heretofore geographical isolation from critics than it does on his work. Rikhotso's work is a powerful and maverick challenge to our expectations.
Opens: July 20
Closes: August 15
Gallery Momo
52 Seventh Avenue, Parktown North, Johannesburg
Tel: (011) 327 3247
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