Notes

Mohau Modisakeng is best known for photographic self-portraits and ambitious films, notably showcased at the 2017 Venice Biennale. Modisakeng’s training, though, was in sculpture. This lot formed part of the artist’s 2012 MFA degree show, Sera, at the Michaelis Galleries. Modisakeng’s graduate exhibition principally featured his sculptures, among them a wall-hung grid of not-allowed icons depicting various weapons, oversized lapel badges presented in reverse to show the pin, and a toppled table with curved top. This lot, a stained leather apron typically used by steelworkers, was placed at the entrance to the exhibition. Modisakeng’s pop-conceptual style of handling themes of labour, violence, security, masculinity and illusion was redolent of Stuart Bird, Wim Botha and Kendell Geers.

Heavy industry, in particular mining and its associated trade skills such as metalwork, remained a strong interest for Modisakeng as his career grew in stature. The artist has spoken of how South Africa’s industrial revolution, prompted by the discovery of gold and diamonds, culminated in the immiseration of black families.¹ Modisakeng’s assured narration of his work owes a debt of influence to Jane Alexander, who during his studies told the young artist, “if you don’t write well about yourself or explain your work, then someone else will”.² The demand of the academy that Modisakeng explain himself initially rankled, partly because prescribed texts removed his autonomy as a reliable narrator.

“Perhaps what the work is about might not at times be clear to some, but there ought to be some admission on the side of those confronted with the work from their ‘outsider’ positions, that they might not have the means through which to access to the work,” he wrote while conceiving this work. “Such an admission would change the dynamics of power drastically within representation because suddenly the (black) artist would have autonomy over the content of the work, and meaning.”³

^1. Mohau Modisakeng (2019) No Serenity Here: Interview with Dr Uhuru Portia Phalafala, artist website: https://www.mohaumodisakengstudio.com/noserenity-interview
^2. Houghton Kinsman (2016) Where the Sun Sets: Interview with Mohau Modisakeng, Frieze, 27 July: https://www.frieze.com/article/where-sun-sets
^3. Mohau Modisakeng (2011) Some Issues Around My Practice, MFA seminar paper, University of Cape Town, 5 April.

Provenance

Acquired from the artist by the current owner, 2012.

Exhibited

Michaelis School of Fine Art, Cape Town, Sera, Master of Fine Art Exhibition, 2012.

Literature

Sean O'Toole (2014) ‘Reviews: Mohau Modisakeng’, Frieze, August, Issue 165, work mentioned on page 163