Take in fresh art this September

Amadoda on the Verge (1835-2035) — Bkhz Gallery

Artist Athi-Patra Ruga continues with mythmaking as a contemporary response to colonial history. Amadoda on the Verge (1835-2035) comprises a series of avatars that probe black masculinity, agency and storytelling.

“In this new body of luscious and layered paintings, I welcome you to a part-speculative, part-historical frontier in which complex notions of collaboration and conflict between settler and native, coloniser and colonised are reflected in the sartorial choices of my avatars,” Ruga says.

“The dark history of settler occupation and religious domination has inspired me to focus on the continued effects of disembodiment on the black male body. Using costume and craftsmanship, I want to create a remedy, an alternative to a history of loss and disassociation.”

• The exhibition is on at the BKhz Gallery, 21 Keyes Avenue, Rosebank, until October 26. The gallery is open Monday to Friday 10am-5pm and Saturday 10am-3pm.

Reflections: On Black Girlhood — Market Photo Workshop

This is a group exhibition curated by Danielle Bowler, featuring the work of five SA artists: Haneem Christian, Ruth Seopedi Motau, Thenjiwe Niki Nkosi, Motlhoki Nono and Lebogang Tlhako. Each offers a unique perspective on black girlhood through reflections on memory, biography, performance, community and joy. As portals, the works in this show are portraits in perpetual motion, questioning, holding, seeing and reflecting black girlhood in its expansiveness.

• The exhibition is on at the Market Photo Workshop, 138 Lilian Ngoyi St, Newtown until October 31. Operating hours are Monday to Friday 9am-4pm.

Ngiyobona Phambili — Umhlabathi Collective

After a six-year hiatus from exhibiting in SA, Sabelo Mlangeni returns with a homecoming solo exhibition curated by Kamogelo Walaza. Exhibited for the first time, Mlangeni showcases 2010-2020 landscape photographs that consider trauma through the medium. The images, collectively titled “Ngiyobana Phambili,” explore how landscape can both conceal and reveal pain.

• The exhibition is on at the Umhlabathi Collective, 2 Helen Joseph Street, Newtown, until October 5. Operating hours are Monday to Saturday 10am-4pm.

Leruo — SA State Theatre

Artist Lerato Lodi presents a solo exhibition titled Leruo. With it, Lodi observes personal encounters of the joys and challenges of motherhood with the balancing act of raising children and nurturing romantic relationships.

“It’s evident that the act of giving, showing and appreciating love is a multifaceted journey. It’s accompanied by numerous obstacles that may not always have clear solutions. In Leruo I’m committed to embracing love with resilience and unwavering faith in the potential for growth and understanding within it,” Lodi says.

• The exhibition opens at the State Theatre, 320, Pretorius Street, Pretoria on September 7 and runs until September 30

Imminent and Eminent Ecologies — FADA Gallery

This is a group exhibition, presented by the Visual Identities in Art and Design Research Centre (VIAD), showcasing the work of leading African and international bio- and eco-artists. The exhibition is co-curated by Leora Farber and Brenton Maart and forms part of VIAD’s newly established Bioart and Design Africa (BA+DA) research stream. Thea featured artists include Bronwyn Katz, Russell Hlongwane, Dean Hutton and Louise Westerhout. The artworks on show foreground the entanglement between living and nonliving forms, humans and the effect culture has on climate change. The exhibition advocates that holistic decolonial practice can only be manifested through breaking down the artificial boundaries between species, and between the organic and elemental.

• The exhibition opens at the FADA Gallery, Bunting Road Campus, University of Johannesburg on September 19 and closes on October 29. The gallery is open Tuesday to Friday from 9am- 4pm and Saturday from 9am-1pm.

What’s Left Unsaid — Goodman Gallery Johannesburg

Banele Khoza’s ‘What’s left unsaid’ explores the weight of unspoken words. Seen together for the first time in Johannesburg is a selection of watercolour paintings from an ever-evolving series initiated in 2013. The presentation continues themes explored in work shown in the 2022 exhibition at Kunsthaus Göttingen ‘From SA’ where he was shown alongside William Kentridge and Santu Mofokeng. The presentation also opens ahead of Khoza’s inclusion in the September group show Pause at Frac Lorraine in France.

Central to the exhibition is the tension between two people when the ability to articulate thoughts and feelings is stifled due to distance, time and vulnerability. This feeds into the artist’s larger thematic exploration: the search for connection, represented by his iterative and ongoing development of delicate portraiture. The presentation includes a selection of self-portraits, a subject matter the artist finds simultaneously challenging and therapeutic.

• The exhibition opens on September 5 at the Goodman Gallery Johannesburg, 163 Jan Smust Avenue, Parkwood, and runs until September 26. The gallery is open Tuesday to Friday from 9am-5pm and Saturday 9am-2pm.

Whispers in the Night — Eclectica Contemporary

This exhibition brings together the works of three artists from different corners of the globe, each at a unique stage in their artistic journey. Through their distinct styles and perspectives, Nedia Were from Kenya, Richard Nattoo from Jamaica and Akinola Ebenezer from Nigeria explore the rich themes of spirituality, folklore and contemporary art, offering a diverse and profound exploration of these universal concepts. Together, they present a captivating dialogue between the ancient and the contemporary, the spiritual and the material.

• The exhibition opens on September 5 at Eclectica Contemporary, 56 Church Street, Cape Town and runs until September 30. The Gallery is open Monday to Friday from 9.30am-5.30pm and on Saturday 9.30am-1.30pm.

An Open Letter | In the Present Tense | Invisible Hand — Southern Guild Cape Town

Southern Guild has three solo exhibitions running. An Open Letter is the debut solo show by newly represented SA painter Mmangaliso Nzuza. Melding personal memory with fictive spaces, his series of figurative oil paintings navigates themes of community, subjectivity and metaphoric harvest. Nzuza in his new body of work transports distinct figures outdoors, shedding the confinement of interior scenes and expanding his subjects beyond the politics of home to find pleasure, hope and ritual in the wilds.

In the Present Tense showcases artist Jozua Gerrard's latest series of enamel-on-glass paintings that reflect a shift towards a more studied gaze. In their radical flatness, confectionery colours and hyper-stylised precision, the vivid figurative works present an uncanny, fantasy-like vision of reality. The exhibition expands on Gerrard’s ongoing survey of contemporary culture, the complexities of identity formation and our pervasive relationship with the virtual realm.

Zimbabwean ceramicist Xanthe Somers presents three hand-coiled sculpture-vessels, produced during her stay at the Guild Residency earlier in 2024. Combining political commentary and hyper-ornamentation, Invisible Hand is a critical reading of extraction economies and notions of domesticity within postcolonial contexts. Somers was recently named the winner of the annual ANNA Award presented by Latitudes.

• All three exhibitions run until October 31 at Southern Guild, Silo, 5 S Arm Road, Cape Town. The gallery is open Monday to Friday 9am-5pm and Saturday 10am-1pm.