WeeklySA_AdminSCOPE: The highly talented artist and host of other creatives to emblazon 13 public spots with murals to enhance the city’s vibrancy…
By Jacob Mawela
With the third iteration of art showcasing platform, Contra.Joburg is set to be unleashed onto the Johannesburg public over the weekend of May 25 and 26, featuring a 32-year-old highly talented Nene Mahlangu among a 200-strong cast of fellow artists.
As part of the initiative, the group of artists will be displaying their creations around 13 spaces across the city.
Mahlangu, who hails from Garankuwa, north of Pretoria, is all but one creative force currently on the rise in the local art space.
Armed with a resume which includes being the winner of the 2023 Womxn To Watch Award, one of Mail and Guardian’s Top 200 Young South Africans and the lead visual artist for Grammy award-winning DJ Black Coffee’s Ibiza residency in 2022 (for which she created 23 dynamic artworks) – Mahlangu came to prominence when back in 2019, becoming the youngest woman ever to design two coins of South Africa.
She was also the first person to feature the image of a black girl on the country’s money notes, in commemoration of 25 years of democracy. She was amongst five artists and designers, and became one of three women commissioned to create that year’s R2 and R5 circulation coins and the youngest South African to design two R2 coins under SA’s 25th anniversary, under the auspices of South African Mint and South African Reserve Bank initiative.
Mahlangu’s two monetary creations comprised a children’s rights coin featuring the faces of four children looking out to the horizon to convey the message that every child has the potential for a bright future – just as long as their essential rights are fulfilled.
Regarded in art circles as a highly accomplished and multitalented, the visual artist crafts showpieces characterised by ethereal and evocative representations of faith and freedom, drawing inspiration from the realms of sensuality, fashion and power.
She describes her oeuvre thus: “My paintings are focused on notions of metaphysical searching. I feel compelled to visually express the physical and emotional manifestation of consciousness and the beauty of aligning to harmony. For too long I’ve spent my time seeking happiness and fulfilment from my environment. From social media likes, complements and seeking acceptance within groups. Currently I am growing into defining myself from within and this is the theme that I want to permeate within my work.
“I like seeing women (and myself) speaking positive words towards ourselves. Being at peace and displaying a sense of power in their lives. Growing up and seeing the helplessness that existed in my environment made me have a pact with myself to strive for the complete opposite. To strive for freedom, joy and confidence from within. I paint and then use charcoal to my work. The painting has become a therapeutic way to think through my thoughts.
“The artworks are often stripped of colour to emphasise the removal of distractions and the hyper focus on inner peace. It has become a form of meditation to create any artwork, a way of removing that which does not serve me. This work is a homage to that power. The power that has travelled throughout generations and opened its floodgates to strengthen me.”
A Bachelor of Sciences graduate from the University of Pretoria, through her company GreenMango, Mahlangu has dedicated herself to supporting emerging artists, by providing them with the skills and resources they need to succeed as entrepreneurs – with a course she initiated, “Intro to Pricing Your Art”, assisting other artists in pricing their work confidently and sustainably, allowing them to fully realise the value of their creations.
She has since exhibited in far-away locations such as Birmingham, Ibiza, Finland and Lagos –with her international art fair debut at the prestigious Venice International Art Fair in 2020 marking a turning point in her career, thus solidifying her position as a leading figure in the global art world.
Contra.Joburg is Joburg’s largest on-the-ground art festival, designed to give Joburg access to artists in their studios across the city, to build new art markets to unlock the work, and give opportunities to the talented and diverse base of visual artists located within the Johannesburg city centre.
“As Contra.Joburg we want to turn the art world on its head by putting the artists first, then the market; to build a strong and sustainable visual arts ecosystem through support programmes, market development and creating visibility for artists in the Johannesburg city centre”, says Sara Hallat, founder and Director of the META Foundation – the initiative’s creator.
