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Gangster Gardener 2021
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Sister Outsider 2021
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'My idea of water is deeply rooted in the late Bruce Lee's philosophy of "being like water". This is a philosophy that emphasises being bold in adapting to change, having acute awareness, flowing formless like water to establish renewed form and balance.'
Phumelele Tshabalala 2021
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'I often consider the journey that each figure is embarking on, including me.'
Phumelele Tshabalala 2021
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'Who am I? Whose am I? Where do I come from? Where am I going? Many of these questions are answered in my engagements with people in the community who are generous enough to offer me aspects of their stories. These incredible moments reveal that part of my story lies in others and theirs in mine: there is no ‘I’ in you but there is definitely a ‘U’ in us.'
Phumelele Tshabalala 2021
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There is no I in You but there is a U in Us
2021There is no I in You but there is a U in Us presents a complex, surreal image that stands out for its inclusion of multiple figures and depictions of space. Tshabalala locates his protagonists in a dreamlike setting that fluctuates between interior and exterior – a fiery landscape, a rocky terrain and a perplexing room with an enigmatic staircase. His two main figures are brilliantly adorned with generous folds of material in vibrant colours, an expression that overflows into the flowers and curling foliage that appear throughout the work. Though each appears, in pose and scale, to exist in their own world, all three figures are linked by the dynamism of the central woman, whose movement underpins the composition as a whole. As the work’s aphoristic title suggests, it is their existence alongside one another that allows for the each to flourish.
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Between the world and Me
2021A self-portrait, Between the world and Me explores the familiar representation of the artist in the studio. Taking a pause from his work, he looks towards the door flung open onto the world: at the threshold is a man gesturing outwards, towards an apocalyptic landscape vibrantly tinted with orange and red. Applying paint and collage, Tshabalala draws attention to symbolic imagery – the artist holds a golden leaf in his hand – whilst disrupting a simple comprehension of space carved out in fluid, organic lines of black and white. As expressed in the work’s title, the artist explores the relationship between the individual and their community, the inner self and the one presented to the world, with the two-part composition reflecting on this conflict.
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Phumelele Tshabalala: Becoming water from the same source
Past viewing_room
