Moshekwa Langa

South Africa
1975
Langa's artistry is notably diverse, employing various media and techniques such as gouaches, collages, expansive installations, and videos.

Moshekwa Langa, born in 1975 in Bakenberg, Limpopo, South Africa, has risen to international prominence since the late 1990s through his participation in several significant biennales around the world, including those in Johannesburg, Istanbul, Havana, São Paulo, Gwangju, Venice, and Lyon. His work has been showcased in solo exhibitions at numerous prestigious institutions across the globe, reflecting the broad appeal and recognition of his artistic practice .

A central aspect of his work is the avoidance of aesthetic harmony, which allows for a broad exploration of themes, contexts, and subjects without generalization. His art reflects on the complexities of diasporic identity, weaving together his experiences from his rural South African upbringing, life in Johannesburg, and current residence in Northern Europe. Langa's approach to art is deeply personal, using his life story as a foundation to explore broader concepts such as territorial hegemony, identity, and the mechanisms of social inclusion and exclusion​​.

Langa's work is characterized by its poetic and sentimental qualities, aiming to visualize events and feelings that escape direct linguistic translation. Through his practice, Langa engages with the elusive nature of meaning, creating works that are indexical of his personal history and emotions. Influenced by the geographic and psychological borders of his upbringing in an apartheid-era 'Homeland' not recognized on most maps, Langa actively maps his autobiography through his art. His large-scale works on paper, often dreamlike and resulting from the accumulation of ephemeral marks and actions, play a central role in this reflective process​​.

Artworks