Award-winning visual artist Blessing Ngobeni is not afraid to tackle controversial subjects like capitalism and what it means to be black through his art.
Born in Tzaneen in Limpopo and moving to Johannesburg at a young age, Ngobeni investigates the purpose in the human experience in his solo exhibition, Ntsumi Ya Vutomi, which is on at Standard Bank Gallery in Joburg City until September 16. The exhibition consists of a body of work that was created over time during Covid-19 and post-Covid, which looks at the state of black human beings.
Ngobeni continues to explore the violence of the post-colony and its impact on black lives, while experimenting with varied compositional techniques and materials. Through his cubism unique style, Ngobeni looks at the political regimes, corruption, incompetence and duplicity of the current South African ruling elite as subjects of his art.
Part of his exhibition is a mind-poking series titled Skeletons At Work, in which he uses acrylic on paper. In explaining the series, Ngobeni defines the series as a study of the human body.
“Something is wrong when the only people that are suffering are black people when we know very well that we are standing on top of the riches in our land. Whatever richness we have is not something that blacks enjoy, and it is serving the life of others. Without us they would not have this life.”
“For me, Skeletons At Work looks at the black body that has been zombified and it become a skeleton body. This skeleton wakes up early in the morning from any township [Langa, Soweto, Mlazi, Katlehong] and goes service the life of a white man in the city. They wake up every day to go to work and when they are done, they go back home. That is how the black body has become, zombified by the system.”
“I still believe our forefathers were not happy when they died, especially those that were forcefully removed in different areas. There are no [longer] forceful removals happening, but black people are fighting among themselves over a shack. We still do not own land.”
In Ngobeni’s theory, there is a problem that spreads all over the world with being black. He believes that black people all over the world are either hated or poor.
“We need to understand ourselves. We need to take the little crumbs that are left and modify ourselves and not be a victim of the slave ship. You see people like Chris Hani, Patrice Lumumba, Thomas Sankara, who were meant to change this continent, were awoken by an experience that they went through. I’m working with the experiences that one goes through, examining the circumstances that allow others to learn and grow, while others feel discouraged to do things. It is a way of reflecting, while looking forward. You can change your skin colour, wear make-up and buy their hair, they will still see you as useless.”
The exhibition is curated by Thembinkosi Goniwe alongside Nkuli Nhleko. According to Goniwe, when Ngobeni moved to Johannesburg, he experienced many hardships, from being homeless, to serving time in prison, which he describes as the usual South African story.
“Blessing has since built an exceptional and unique career in the South African art industry. This critique is informed by his own experience, the hardships and challenges he had to confront as a child and adolescent. As a result of his exceptional work and dedication to his practice, Blessing received the highly prestigious Standard Bank Young Artist Award for visual arts in 2020. He tackles the disconcerting consequences of betraying democratic ideals, the failure to learn from historical tragedies and the expanding gap between the rich and poor.”
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