Sam Nhlengethwa / Glimpses of the Fifties and Sixties / 2004

Sam Nhlengethwa
19 February - 13 March 2004
Johannesburg Gallery

Slideshow Thumbnails
Sam Nhlengethwa / Glimpses of the Fifties and Sixties / 2004
19 February - 13 March 2004
Installation View
Sam Nhlengethwa
While we were young I, 2003
Photolithograph
50 x 30 cm
Sam Nhlengethwa
Mbombela, 2004
Photolithograph
50 x 30cm
Sam Nhlengethwa
Near the bus stop, 2004
Photolithograph
50 x 30cm
Sam Nhlengethwa
News Time, 2003
Collage and oil on canvas
45 x 60cm
Sam Nhlengethwa
Busking Near a Station, 2003
Woven Mohair (silk) and embroidery by Marguerite Stephens studio
240 x 192cm
Sam Nhlengethwa
Sentence, 2003
Collage on paper
35 x 56cm
Sam Nhlengethwa
Stop it Verwoed, 2004
Photolithograph
50 x 30cm
Sam Nhlengethwa
Azikhuwelwa, 2003
Photolithograph
30 x 50 cm
Sam Nhlengethwa
The Shebeen, 2004
Photolithograph
50 x 30cm
Sam Nhlengethwa
A Tired Miner, 2003
Photolithograph
30 x 50 cm
Sam Nhlengethwa
The Grinding Stone, 2004
photolithograph
50 x 30cm
Sam Nhlengethwa
A portrait of Tod Majikiza, 2003
Collage and oil on canvas
45 x 60cm
Sam Nhlengethwa
Otilia Ntshangase's Pass book and cover, 2003
Collage on paper
49 x 35cm
Sam Nhlengethwa
The Jazz Festival, 2003
Collage and oil on canvas
45 x 60cm
Sam Nhlengethwa
While we were young III, 2003
Photolithograph
50 x 30 cm
Sam Nhlengethwa
Hard at Work I, 2004
Photolithograph
50 x 30cm
Sam Nhlengethwa
Coal Shed, 2004
Photolithograph
Image: 20 x 28.5 cm Work: 50 x 38.5 cm
Sam Nhlengethwa
Busking near a station , 2003
Collage and oil on canvas
60 x 45cm
Sam Nhlengethwa
Boss Boy, 2003
Collage and oil on paper
99 x 139cm
Sam Nhlengethwa
The Beer Hall, 2003
Collage and oil on paper
70 x 100cm
Sam Nhlengethwa
The Flower girls, 2003
Collage and oil on canvas
45 x 60cm
Sam Nhlengethwa
Miners Showering, 2004
Photolithograph
30 x 50 cm
Sam Nhlengethwa
Protests, 2003
Photolithograph
30 x 50 cm
Sam Nhlengethwa
Portrait of Miriam Makeba, 2003
Collage and oil on canvas
45 x 60cm
Sam Nhlengethwa
A Proud Couple, 2003
Collage and oil on canvas
60 x 45cm
Sam Nhlengethwa
Johannesburg Building Society, 2003
Collage on paper
23 x 77cm
Sam Nhlengethwa
Pass Raid, 2004
Photolithograph
50 x 30cm
Sam Nhlengethwa
Compounds, 2004
Photolithograph
50 x 30cm
Sam Nhlengethwa
1966 VW Beetle, 2003
Collage and oil on canvas
45 x 60cm
Sam Nhlengethwa
The End of Kofifi, 2003
Photolithograph
30 x 50 cm
Sam Nhlengethwa
Skipping, 2003
photolithograph
50 x 30cm
Sam Nhlengethwa
Whites Only Area, 2003
Photolithograph
30 x 50 cm
Sam Nhlengethwa
Humiliation, 2004
Photolithograph
50 x 30cm
Sam Nhlengethwa
Mrs Ngobeni (my mother in law), 2003
Collage and oil on canvas
45 x 60cm
Sam Nhlengethwa
While we were young II, 2003
Photolithograph
50 x 30 cm
Sam Nhlengethwa
Migrant Labourers, 2004
Photolithograph
50 x 30cm
Sam Nhlengethwa
Beauty Queens , 2003
Collage and oil on canvas
45 x 60cm
Sam Nhlengethwa
Underground, 2003
Photolithograph
50 x 30cm
Sam Nhlengethwa
Part-Time Job I, 2003
Photolithograph
30 x 50 cm
Sam Nhlengethwa
Sharpeville Massacre, 2004
Photolithograph
30 x 50cm
Sam Nhlengethwa
Pay Day, 2003
Photolithograph
30 x 50 cm
Sam Nhlengethwa
My mom and my aunt , 2003
Collage and oil on canvas
45 x 60cm
Sam Nhlengethwa
Hard at Work II, 2004
Photolithograph
50 x 30cm
Sam Nhlengethwa
Gumboot Dance, 2003
Photolithograph
30 x 50 cm
Sam Nhlengethwa
Enemies of the state , 2003
Collage and oil on canvas
120 x 150cm
Sam Nhlengethwa
Mr. and Mrs. Ngobeni (my in-laws), 2003
Collage on canvas
45 x 60cm
Sam Nhlengethwa
Part Time Job II, 2003
Photolithograph
30 x 50 cm
Sam Nhlengethwa
Candlelit Studying, 2003Photolithograph
Photolithograph
30 x 50 cm
Sam Nhlengethwa
Miriam Makeba and SA Big Band , 2003
Collage and oil on paper
76 x 151cm
Sam Nhlengethwa
Stand Accused , 2003
Collage on paper
44 x 70cm
Sam Nhlengethwa
The end of the shift, 2003
Collage on canvas
45 x 60cm
Sam Nhlengethwa
Waiting for trial I, 2003
Collage and oil on canvas
34 x 55.6cm
Sam Nhlengethwa
Colleagues , 2003
Photolithograph
Image: 20 x 28.5 cm Work: 49.5 x 38.5 cm

Sam Nhlengethwa / Glimpses of the Fifties and Sixties / 2004 - Installation View

19 February - 13 March 2004

Sam Nhlengethwa

While we were young I

Sam Nhlengethwa

Mbombela

Sam Nhlengethwa

Near the bus stop

Sam Nhlengethwa

News Time

Sam Nhlengethwa

Busking Near a Station

Sam Nhlengethwa

Sentence

Sam Nhlengethwa

Stop it Verwoed

Sam Nhlengethwa

Azikhuwelwa

Sam Nhlengethwa

The Shebeen

Sam Nhlengethwa

A Tired Miner

Sam Nhlengethwa

The Grinding Stone

Sam Nhlengethwa

A portrait of Tod Majikiza

Sam Nhlengethwa

Otilia Ntshangase's Pass book and cover

Sam Nhlengethwa

The Jazz Festival

Sam Nhlengethwa

While we were young III

Sam Nhlengethwa

Hard at Work I

Sam Nhlengethwa

Coal Shed

Sam Nhlengethwa

Busking near a station

Sam Nhlengethwa

Boss Boy

Sam Nhlengethwa

The Beer Hall

Sam Nhlengethwa

The Flower girls

Sam Nhlengethwa

Miners Showering

Sam Nhlengethwa

Protests

Sam Nhlengethwa

Portrait of Miriam Makeba

Sam Nhlengethwa

A Proud Couple

Sam Nhlengethwa

Johannesburg Building Society

Sam Nhlengethwa

Pass Raid

Sam Nhlengethwa

Compounds

Sam Nhlengethwa

1966 VW Beetle

Sam Nhlengethwa

The End of Kofifi

Sam Nhlengethwa

Skipping

Sam Nhlengethwa

Whites Only Area

Sam Nhlengethwa

Humiliation

Sam Nhlengethwa

Mrs Ngobeni (my mother in law)

Sam Nhlengethwa

While we were young II

Sam Nhlengethwa

Migrant Labourers

Sam Nhlengethwa

Beauty Queens

Sam Nhlengethwa

Underground

Sam Nhlengethwa

Part-Time Job I

Sam Nhlengethwa

Sharpeville Massacre

Sam Nhlengethwa

Pay Day

Sam Nhlengethwa

My mom and my aunt

Sam Nhlengethwa

Hard at Work II

Sam Nhlengethwa

Gumboot Dance

Sam Nhlengethwa

Enemies of the state

Sam Nhlengethwa

Mr. and Mrs. Ngobeni (my in-laws)

Sam Nhlengethwa

Part Time Job II

Sam Nhlengethwa

Candlelit Studying

Sam Nhlengethwa

Miriam Makeba and SA Big Band

Sam Nhlengethwa

Stand Accused

Sam Nhlengethwa

The end of the shift

Sam Nhlengethwa

Waiting for trial I

Sam Nhlengethwa

Colleagues

The Goodman Gallery was proud to host an exhibition of works by Sam Nhlengethwa. The opening was on the Thursday 19th February 2004 and closed the Saturday 13th March 2004 at 16h00.

Sam says that ‘This exhibition is a culmination of a thought that began 10 years ago. Perhaps on some subconscious level it is very fitting that parallel to this show is the year we celebrate 10 years of democracy. The title of this exhibition is ‘Glimpses of the Fifties and Sixties’. I have chosen to work in the style to which I have become accustomed (collage) and to also explore my printing via the photogravure process. I think one of the reasons I like this process is that it has an element of collage in it, but the process is more physically involved and delicate. It entails digitizing an initial collage and working through at least five plates before even considering the trial print to be used for the series.

I sourced material from the Drum magazine archives and I also looked through my own family albums. The use of my own archive was important because I wanted to reflect an intimacy and a familiarity that would make the images accessible. Looking through the albums I reminisced about growing up in my grandmother’s house and how I always found the dining with the wedding photograph so intriguing. I also recalled enjoying a softball match in Westonaria (a small mining community on the West Rand) amidst the many dompas and curfew laws. Today these images have now been revived in the music videos of Mafikizolo and the ‘Stoned Cherry’ fashion label. I think I’m lucky in the sense that I have used art as an outlet for the frustrations I encountered during this time. My visual expression through painting was therapeutic and has now been transformed into what I believe to be a historical retrospective’.

Sam Nhlengethwa

Born in Springs, South Africa in 1955. Lives and works in Johannesburg, South Africa.Nhlengethwa was born into a family of jazz lovers; his two brothers both collected jazz music and his deceased eldest brother was a jazz musician. “Painting jazz pieces is an avenue or outlet for expressing my love for the music,” he once said in an interview. "As I paint, I listen to jazz and visualise the performance. Jazz performers improvise within the conventions of their chosen styles. In an ensemble, for example, there are vocal styles that include freedom of vocal colour, call-and-response patterns and rhythmic complexities played by different members. Painting jazz allows me to literally put colour onto these vocal colours.

“Jazz is rhythmic and it emphasises interpretation rather than composition. There are deliberate tonal distortions that contribute to its uniqueness. My jazz collages, with their distorted patterns, attempt to communicate all of this. As a collagist and painter, fortunately, the technique allows me this freedom of expression… What I am doing is not new though, as there are other artists before me who painted jazz pieces. For example, Gerard Sekoto, Romare Bearden and Henri Matisse.”