ARTIST SENZO HAS COME A LONG WAY
He joins top artists in celebrating a new art technique in Carved show
PRINTMAKING specialist Senzo Shabangu tackles the disparities between the poor and the rich in his latest exhibition.
The 29-year-old Shabangu, who has exhibited both locally and internationally, was born in Driefontein, Mpumalanga.
Shabangu ’ s professional art career started in 2007 after he had just completed his diploma in Fine Arts at Artist Proof Studios in Newtown, Johannesburg.
He is currently participating in a group printmaking exhibition titled
at David Krut Gallery in Parkwood, Johannesburg.
is a celebration of an art technique called linocut. Shabangu is exhibiting alongside experienced artists like Ryan Arenson, Chris Cozier, William Kentridge and Joshua Miles, among others.
Shabangu ’ s favourite subject is movement in the city, although the focus has changed a bit, with him now looking closely at the places and spaces where people live.
In this latest exhibition, Shabangu tries to highlight how the youth of today cannot stand on their own.
He says they want to be supported and carried by their parents. This is illustrated by a piece titled
where a mother is carrying three babies on her back.
Another interesting piece is that of a woman carrying a dish full of mielies on her head on top of which is an upside down structure of the Union Buildings. This exhibition is titled
In describing the piece, Shabangu says: “Through this painting I want to show that as much as many people contributed to the fight against apartheid, not everybody has really benefited.”
Apart from his current exhibition, Shabangu has another opening on Tuesday at SMTG Gallery in Krakow, Poland. This solo exhibition is titled
The monotype specialist (a printmaking technique) is also experimenting with a new concept which he calls
The concept will be on show for the first time in October, also at the David Krut Gallery.
In Shabangu tries to compare the different worlds in which the poor and rich live.
Carved
Shabangu has painted different sizes of boxes stacked on top of each other.
He uses the boxes as a metaphor to show that it ’ s a struggle to own a proper house or land in South Africa. It is a privilege enjoyed by the rich.
“It is a privilege to own a proper house in South Africa,” he says.
“For me, rooms and flats inhabited by the poor are no different from the boxes.”