I was very impressed with the 4th year show of the Tshwane fine arts students yesterday, which took place across two galleries (Gordart and Franchise), and housed what seemed like over 75 works by about 20 artists. As a sample, I’d like to talk about Donna Kukama’s work – we had a long chat about what she’s been up to.
Donna’s relationship to her art is a “both/and” rather than an “either/or.” She is always an artist, but first, a person (who makes art). Implicit is the fact that she is a young, black female artist producing work in South Africa, but her work is never about that – and so, by default, is always about that.
In this show, Donna makes work mostly rejecting, and at the same time, conversing with, the way her art is “supposed” to be. She is very interested in form, aesthetics, the body, and personal explorations that invite others in, rather than making them feel voyeuristic. She’s felt boxed in, already, by a scene that expects her to make work about being young, black, female.
So her work ironically boxes her in – literally.
For example, she’s made mosiac videos out of animated tiles that show her skin “breathing” up and down, further boxed by small screens, placed in literal cardboard boxes, then held still by a leash of power cords (matchbox housing and spoonfeeding schemes). Blind lullaby and Blind sleep are a video diptych that are a-sexual landscapes of her dark skin, but could easily be shadows of whiteness. With moriri setso (pictured), she simply paints her shavings and clippings white.
Is it just me, or is Donna simultaneously asking us to laugh, begging for a little credit, and giving us the finger? You go, girl. (some previous stuff I’ve written on Donna can be found by searching her name – her first name, that is, cuz I only finally learned her surname yesterday)
