Sam NhlengethwaMy Grey couch, 2024
Over the course of his career, Nhlengethwa – dubbed “one of the country’s most celebrated living artists”1 – has developed a distinctive collage and painting practice while exploring themes of Interiors and Tributes. These bodies of work have become a primary space for the artist to tap into his deep passion for jazz and pay tribute to cultural icons, such as Miriam Makeba and Ron Carter – figures writ large in South Africa’s cultural consciousness who recur throughout Nhlengethwa’s work.
According to the artist: “In doing these tributes and the interiors I am taken down memory lane to a time when I was a set designer at SABC. There we were dealing with space – vacated space. The tributes ape that empty space, but with the hanging paintings of these specific individuals, they are injected with a sense of vibrancy.”
