Nandipha Mntambo
Nandipha Mntambo (born in 1982) is a South African artist who has become famous for her sculptures, videos and photographs[1] that focus on human female body and identity by using natural, organic materials.
Life
Nandipha Mntambo was born in Swaziland, Southern Africa, in 1982. She graduated with a Master's degree in Fine Art (with distinction) from the Michaelis School of Fine Art, University of Cape Town, in June 2007.[2] She lives and works in South Africa.
Work philosophy
In her work, Mntambo focuses on the human body and the organic nature of identity, using mainly natural materials and experimenting with sculptures, videos and photography. One of her favourite materials is the skin of the cow, often also used as a covering for human bodies - boneless sculptures - and thus oscillating between evoking the garments that can be shod at will and the bodies that once contained living, breathing, masticating beings with four stomachs. Mntambo embraces this ambiguity and likes to play with the tension between the sightly and the unsightly by manipulating how her viewers negotiate the two aspects of the hide.[3]
She states:
"My intention is to explore the physical and tactile properties of hide and aspects of control that allow or prevent me from manipulating this material in the context of the female body and contemporary art. I have used cowhide as a means to subvert expected associations with corporeal presence, femininity, sexuality and vulnerability. The work I create seeks to challenge and subvert preconceptions regarding representation of the female body."[4]
"Themes of confrontation, protection and refuge play out particularly in relation to inner conflicts and to notions of self-love/hatred. The bronze, Sengifikile, uses my own features as a foundation, but takes on the guise of a bull. Referencing the head-and-shoulder busts of the Renaissance tradition I challenge male and female roles in society and expected associations with femininity, sexuality and vulnerability."[5]
Exhibitions
Solo exhibitions (selection)
- 2007 Ingabisa, Michael Stevenson Gallery, Cape Town
- 2007 Locating me in order to see you (Master's exhibition), Michaelis Gallery, Cape Town
Group exhibitions (selection)
- 2008 Disguise, Michael Stevenson Gallery, Cape Town
- 2008 Dak'art, Dakar Biennale, Senegal
- 2008 Black Womanhood: Images, Icons, and Ideologies of the African Body, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire
- 2008 Skin-to-skin: Challenging textile art, Standard Bank Gallery, Johannesburg
- 2008 .za: giovane arte dal Sudafrica, Palazzo delle Papesse, Siena
- 2008 The Trickster at ArtExtra, Johannesburg
- 2007 Summer 2007/8, Michael Stevenson, Cape Town
- 2007 Apartheid: The South African Mirror, Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona
- 2007 Afterlife, Michael Stevenson Gallery, Cape Town
- 2006 Olivida quien soy - Erase me from who I am, Centro Atlantico de Arte Moderno, Las Palmas
- 2006 MTN New Contemporaries, Johannesburg Art Gallery, Johannesburg
- 2006 Second to None, Iziko South African National Gallery, Cape Town
- 2005 In the Making: Materials and Process, Michael Stevenson Gallery, Cape Town
- 2001/2 Curated the Parliamentary Millennium Project (PMP)
Awards
- 2005 Curatorial Fellowship, Brett Kebble Art Awards
- 2003/4 Mellon Meyers Fellowship, Michaelis School of Fine Art
Literature
- Mntambo, Nandipha. Nandipha Mntambo - Locating me in order to see you. University of Cape Town, 2007.
- Mntambo, Nandipha, und Sophie Perryer. Nandipha Mntambo: Ingabisa, 16 August–15 September 2007. Michael Stevenson, 2007.
- Mntambo, Nandipha, Sophie Perryer, and Michael Stevenson Gallery. The Encounter. Michael Stevenson, 2009.
References
- ↑ "Nandipha Mntambo doesn't take any bull". Independent Online (South Africa). 9 December 2008. Retrieved 15 July 2011.
- ↑ Nandipha Mntambo page at Stevenson Gallery.
- ↑ Tavish McIntosh, "Nandipha Mntambo", artthrob, Issue No. 133, September 2008.
- ↑ Catalogue statement for Ingabisa at Michael Stevenson 2007.
- ↑ "Nandipha Mntambo", Dakar Biennale