Behind The Lens
(Group Show)
06 October - 1 December 2018
Behind the Lens
Putting together, the work of contemporary artists whose primary medium of expression is photography, Behind the lens speaks to the precarity of photography as an art medium whilst maintaining its necessity and fluidity. The show consists of the work of twelve artists, who by name are Tatenda Chidora, Andile Buka, Anthony Bila, Bernard Brand, Nikki Zakkas, Nkhensani Mkhari, Mpho Mokgadi, Cole Ndelu, Thembela Terra Dick, Justin Chen, Manyatsa Monyamane and the featured artist Brooklyn Pakathi. These artists, whom despite their varying motivations, recognise photography for its uncanny ability to tell stories; dynamic, multifaceted, sometimes ambiguous, sometimes incomplete, fragmented, cohesive but always texturally rich narratives of life lived in the advent of the fourth industrial revolution.
Interviews conducted with each of the artists as a means of extracting and then relaying the ways in which they use photography as a tool for world making.
A note on the featured artist:
Brooklyn Pakathi, whose oeuvre has always been tainted by a tinge of existential crisis, extends these feelings of desolation to the present work. In his series IOS update My Life, Pakathi uses the dual camera system in an ingenious way. A way that reveals his innermost desires, anxieties and fears. He uses various devices, such as text messaging to stage a play on the proliferation of social media, cell phones and their inability to mitigate feelings of worthlessness and depression. This work that sees Pakathi create an archive using screenshots becomes a poignant revelation of what it means to exist in the digital age, where devices can be programmed to remind you of how lonely you are.
- Sihle Motsa
Tatenda Chidora
“I lost my drawing skills at an early age. I was always in love with images and I always used to cut out images from magazines until I started collecting my own. I love portraiture, a bit of architecture and Landscapes. I would describe myself as one who documents and creates in a contemporary direction. Black and white and rich colour contrast is my personal translation tools that I use present my imagery
”
Nkhensani Mkhari
“A camera isn’t just a camera....It’s a machine you collaborate with. I’m happy everyone has one, that they can capture their lives and moments they deem important...that’s invaluable to me.
”
Cole Ndelu
“I make the work that I want to see. I make imagery that celebrates black people - I place the bodies and stories of black people at the centre. My work is for brown girls and boys - I want them to feel seen, beautiful and possible.
“Women’s voices in photography are nowhere as powerful as those of their male counterparts.” As a black woman, I believe that my eye is important. It matters that I’m the one making the images.”
Andile Buka
“Any child born in South Africa has multiple ancestors. We know these different ancestries intimately and at times we are in overlapping conversations with them and they take turns in looking after us...”
Mpho Mokgadi
Justin Chen
“ I think all great artist manages to capture a broad range of human emotions (love, hate, fear, joy, sorrow and euphoria) within the period of their lifetime through their select craft. I aspire to do the same and create photographs that manage to capture or evoke emotions in a 4x3 frame without the use of words.”
Thembela Terra Dick
“I see photography reaching heights higher than where it already is cause of the new creatives that get discovered every single day. Its beauty gets expanded on a regular and the stories it tells get recognized and exposed to the eyes of its viewers meaning great evolvement and change to the world around us.”
Bernard Brand
“In doing this, I want to show vulnerability and that it’s okay to ask questions and not know or even receive the answers always.”
Brooklyn J Pakathi
broken hearts take time to mend
mixed media digital painting on 70cmx70cm canvas
edition of 10
Further inquiries: info@bkhz.co.za