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THK Gallery at 1-54 London 2021
Pardon Mapondera | Lerato Motaung | Pierre le Riche | Jake Michael Singer | Lulama Wolf
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THK Gallery is proud to present a selection of works by Pardon Mapondera, Lerato Motaung, Pierre le Riche, Jake Michael Singer, and Lulama Wolf.
This multidisciplinary presentation puts forth diverse creations of these different artistic voices based in South Africa.
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Pardon Mapondera's textile works fashioned from plastic bottles, straws and thread ruminate on the burgeoning
ecological crisis that is set to displace swathes of people in the coming decades. While Mapondera’s works acknowledge the presence of manmade waste, they also offer a view for an alternative future where these materials can form part of the climate crisis solution.
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Lerato Motaung's paintings attempt to plot the unmappable aspects of the human mind by pushing beyond the possibilities of the physical world, thus bringing the viewer closer to grasping tangibly memory. While the intangible is present, Motaung situates his works in the corporeal world, weaving the familiar with the imagined to create a personal and intuitive evocation of history.
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Photo credit: Rocio Chacon
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Pierre le Riche's practice spans many mediums and techniques. He is widely recognised for his dynamic use of string and textiles. He uses thread as structural element – both a connection point, an unravelling, and a space demarcation – and evokes a complex set of ready-made associations through material and colour use: exploring permeable gender roles and liminal identities. Weaving a complex set of associations, the threads running through his practice tap into a rich seam of metaphor and ambiguity.
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Photo credit: Rocio Chacon
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Jake Michael Singer commands an exquisite mastery of sculpture - drawing inspiration from the emergent behaviour
of flocking birds, where the individual is subsumed in the whole; and meditating on the timeless monumentality of the
Winged Victory of Samothrace, his Murmurations series speaks to our time.
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At the intersection of Neo-Expressionism and Modern African Art, Lulama Wolf interrogates the pre-colonial African experience through the contemporary mind by using smearing, scraping, and deep pigment techniques that were used in vernacular architecture, and the patterns created largely by women to decorate traditional African homes. History and the proof of life are the core concepts in her work.
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Photo credit: Rocio Chacon
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Photo credit: Rocio Chacon
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About Pardon Mapondera
Pardon Mapondera (b. 1992, Chitungwiza, Zimbabwe) is a full-time artist, currently living and working in Cape Town, South Africa.
Growing up in Zimbabwe, his education was affected by Zimbabwe’s economic and political upheavals, but he persevered and completed his education. He applied at the National Gallery Visual Art and Design (former British American Tobacco School of Art) after being encouraged to do so by his brother and mentor, the well-established visual artist Wallen Mapondera, and successfully graduated in 2016.
He is represented in a number of prominent collections, both in Africa and Europe, and received awards and recognition for his work.
In August 2020, Pardon Mapondera was a runner-up in The Emergence Art Prize, which was organised by THK Gallery with support from Rand Merchant Bank.
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About Lerato Motaung
Lerato Motaung (b. 1991) in Katlehong, Germiston, is a visual artist based in Johannesburg, South Africa. After training in drawing at the Johannesburg Art Gallery in 2008, and in sculpture at the Katlehong Art Center in 2009, he received his Diploma in Fine Arts in 2015 from the Tshwane University of Technology in Pretoria.
For his primary means of expression, Motaung’s weaves the familiar with the imagined to create a personal and intuitive evocation of history. Drawing inspiration from his day to day life in metropolitan Johannesburg where he lives and works — as well as from memories of his youth in the North West Province and his coming of age in Katlehong township — he brings the viewer closer to grasping the intangible by pushing beyond the possibilities of the physical, and attempting to plot the unmappable parts of the human mind. While the intangible is present, Motaung situates his works in the corporeal world. He says, “My work is situated in an unknown time and is influenced by the past and the present”.
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About Pierre le Riche
Pierre le Riche (b.1986, Port Elizabeth) is a conceptual artist with a practice spanning many mediums and techniques, and widely recognised for his dynamic use of string and textiles. He uses thread as structural element – both a connection point, an unravelling, and a space demarcation – and evokes a complex set of ready-made associations through material and colour use: exploring permeable gender roles and liminal identities. Weaving a complex set of associations, the threads running through his practice tap into a rich seam of metaphor and ambiguity.
He has participated in many projects and exhibitions in South Africa and abroad, and has worked with the likes of Cartier, Daimler, Power Play and Trenery. He has recently showed adaptations of his Rainbow Room installation in the United States of America and the People's Republic of China; both being part of traveling exhibitions.
Le Riche holds a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Cape Town's Michaelis School of Fine Art.
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About Jake Michael Singer
Jake Michael Singer (b. 1991) experiments with a broad range of disciplines from photography to works on paper, and commands an exquisite mastery of sculpture. Drawing inspiration from the emergent behaviour of flocking birds, where the individual is subsumed in the whole; and meditating on the timeless monumentality of the Winged Victory of Samothrace, his Murmurations series speaks to our time. Meticulously constructed, using up to sixteen thousand meters of marine grade stainless steel for a single sculpture, the Murmurations series establishes his position as one of the leading young sculptors from Africa.
Singer completed his bachelor’s at Michaelis School of Fine Art in 2013, after deepening his learning over the course of 2012 at Central Saint Martins in London. He was recognised by the Eduardo Villa Foundation Grant both in 2016 and 2017, the youngest sculptor yet awarded this. His work features in private collections in South Africa, Germany, Greece, Canada, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States, and he has further completed two large-scale public sculptures in Johannesburg: Dawn Chorus, part of the RMB Collection in the Think Precinct, and Roarke’s Evacuation Plan, a landmark on the Jo’burg skyline. In 2020, he launched the Emergence Art Prize with THK Gallery, which was supported by RMB. His work has been exhibited at Zeitz MOCAA, and his large installation And all the Birds Flew with a Harsh Scream (Marmara), 2020, was featured in Iziko Museum’s most recent exhibition Matereality. It is now currently on exhibition at the Norval Foundation. In October 2021, Singer completed Bennu Stassis, a site-specific installation in a former Hamman in Istanbul dating from 1477. -
About Lulama Wolf
Lulama Wolf (b. 1993) is a visual artist who lives and works in Johannesburg, South Africa.
At the intersection of Neo-Expressionism and Modern African Art, Wolf interrogates the pre-colonial African experience through the contemporary mind by using smearing, scraping, and deep pigment techniques that were used in vernacular architecture, and the patterns created largely by women to decorate traditional African homes.
History and the proof of life are the core concepts in her work. Where there has rarely prior been reference of life in black spirituality, she counters that narrative by creating two dimensional paintings to embody the simplicity and deep spiritual power of the native eye. Her motivation is both tender and protective of her imaginary world, and her symbolic view of how her world looks into an alternate universe. She is set on creating both a photographic and graphic experience, that morphs and shapeshifts into a higher dimensional plane."My work carries my spirit, before it carries a message. My intuition plays a vital role in the direction I go and then I compartmentalise with what I prioritise. I represent different parts of my self including abstraction, curiosity, mythology, spirituality and introspection. Blackness is vital in my work because it is created by a black woman despite the medium or language it speaks, it is vital because proof of existence is rare in the black community, information is shared but isn’t sustained in ways that are knowledgeable to us right now. I express my yearning for answers and clarity in ways that make my blackness clear even when the work is abstract. My practice embodies subtlety in a form of texture and expression, a curious mix of ambiguity and curiosity. I experiment with different textures and moulds that are formed from the earth."
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Press
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Lulama Wolf | NewAfrican | Artists to watch at this year’s 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair
October 14, 2021 An article on artists to watch at the 2021 Edition of the 1-54 London Contemporary African Art Fair, featuring THK Gallery artist Lulama Wolf. Read the full piece here . -
ArtThrob | Rendering the Unseeable: on Pardon Mapondera
January 25, 2021 An article on the work and practice of Pardon Mapondera, as well as a review of his current inclusion in THK Gallery's Reflect. Reimagine. Reset. group show. Read the full... -
AfricanH | Pardon Mapondera
March 6, 2021 An article on artist Pardon Mapondera by Lifang Zhang. Read the full piece here . -
ArtThrob | Pardon Mapondera | Hutsanana
July 8, 2021 A review of Pardon Mapondera's online show Hutsanana by Lukho Witbooi. Read the full review here . -
ArtDependence | Lerato Motaung Wins the Emergence Art Prize 2020
September 18, 2020 An article on Lerato Motaung, the winner of the Emergence Art Prize 2020 Edition. Read the full piece here . -
VISI | Lerato Motaung announced as Emergence Art Prize 2020 winner
September 29, 2020 An article on Lerato Motaung, the winner of the 2020 edition of the Emergence Art Prize. Read the full piece here . -
Bubblegum Club | Lerato Motaung
October 13, 2020 Article on the work and practice of Lerato Motaung. Read the full piece here . -
Tshwane University of Technology | Germany awaits gifted TUT artist | Lerato Motaung
October 14, 2020 An feature on Lerato Motaung, winner of the Emergence Art Prize 2020 edition. Read the full piece here . -
Business Art | Emergence Art Prize
October 15, 2020 A feature on the winner and runners-up of the Emergence Art Prize 2020 edition. Read the full piece here . -
Floornature | Hologram H10 by Pierre Le Riche at the Minsheng Museum, Beijing
September 1, 2018 South African artist Pierre Le Riche developed the installation for Cartier's Coloratura High-Jewelry in the largest public space for contemporary art in China, the Minsheng Contemporary Art Museum in Beijing,... -
Creative Feel | Pierre le Riche | Sasol New Signatures Merit Award Winner
July 25, 2018 An interview with Pierre le Riche on his 2018 Sasol New Signatures Merit Award. Read the full interview here . -
KUNSTFORUM International | COVID-19 "The Mask Project" | Pierre le Riche X Nonzuzo Gxekwa
August 6, 2020 Feature on Kunstforum International regarding The Mask Project, a collaboration between THK Gallery artists Pierre le Riche and Nonzuzo Gxekwa. Read the full piece here . -
Latitudes | The Mask Project | Nonzuzo Gxekwa x Pierre Le Riche
July 20, 2020 An article on The Mask Project collaboration between THK Gallery artists Nonzuzo Gxekwa and Pierre le Riche. Read the full piece here . -
VISI | Picks of the Week | Pierre Le Riche X Signatura Collaboration at WEX1
November 10, 2020 An article which features the installation work of Pierre le Riche. Read the full piece here . -
Art Times | Pierre le Riche
May 1, 2021 Feature on Pierre le Riche's new solo show 'Urns for the Ashes of my Lost Lovers', currently on show at THK Gallery from 06 May - 26 June 2021. Read... -
Pierre le Riche | Urns for the Ashes of my Lost Lovers | Press Release
May 6, 2021 THK Gallery is proud to announce Pierre Henri le Riche's latest solo show Urns for the Ashes of My Lost Lovers: Part 1. Read the full Press Release here . -
VISI | Dairy: Local Exhibitions | //thread
July 23, 2020 A compilation of online exhibitions, with mention of current show //thread and Nonzuzo Gxekwa's solo show Life is Beautiful. Read the full piece here . -
VISI | //thread
August 6, 2020 A feature on //thread, the current show in display at THK Gallery. Read the full feature here . -
Ocula Magazine | The Mask Project
July 30, 2020 A feature on the colloborative project between THK artists Pierre le Riche and Nonzuzo Gxekwa, titled The Mask Project. Read the full article here . -
Art Times | Jake Michael Singer | In Murmurs | November 2019 Edition
October 28, 2019 Feature article on Jake Michael Singer's solo show In Murmurs, held at THK Gallery from 30 October - 06 December 2019 . The online version of the full July/August 2019... -
RMB | Jake Michael Singer Interview | Dawn Chorus
November 20, 2019 Jake Michael Singer discusses his process and use of materials for his Murmurations series, specifically Dawn Chorus, which entered the Rand Merchant Bank (RMB) collection in 2019. It is on... -
Bubblegum Club | Jake Michael Singer at Gallery TINY
March 11, 2020 Article on Jake Singer's first exhibition The World is Already Happening, at Gallery TINY in New York. Read the article here . -
Latitudes | Collect: A Sculptural Medium | Jake Michael Singer
October 19, 2020 An article on the work of 14 sculptors, including Jake Michael Singer. Read the full article here . -
AKAA 2020 | Fair Newspaper | Interview with Jake Michael Singer
November 12, 2020 An interview with Jake Michael Singer, regarding his practice and conducted by Mimi Vuurman. Read the full interview here . The full AKAA 2020 fair newspaper can be viewed here... -
Iziko South African National Gallery | Matereality | Jake Michael Singer | 14 February - 02 August 2020
March 5, 2020 THK Gallery is proud to announce that Jake Michael Singer's large-scale installation, And All the Birds Flew with a Harsh Scream (Marmara), 2020, currently features in Matereality, the critically acclaimed... -
Jake Michael Singer in New York | Gallery TINY | 13 March - 10 April 2020
March 5, 2020 THK Gallery announces Jake Michael Singer's latest exhibition in New York. Showcasing select photographs and sculptures from Jake's varied practice, The World is Already Happening opens at Galley TINY on... -
Daily Maverick | South African artist Lulama Wolf paints a personalised narrative of African artistry
September 7, 2021 An interview with and article on the work and practice of Lulama Wolf. Read the full piece here . -
Artnet News | 5 Artists That the Artnet Gallery Network Is Watching in January
January 8, 2021 An article on 5 artists to watch in January 2021, featuring Lulama Wolf. Read the full piece here .
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