Strauss & co - 1 December 2018, Cape Town

26 Zeitz MOCAA Benefit Art Auction Nicholas Hlobo’s circular, minimalist canvas Ifaskoti yomQhakancu (2018) may seem worlds apart from the larger-than-life Iimpundu-lu Zonke Ziyandilandela (or Lightning Bird) that greets visitors to the museum. The origins of both works, however, stem from a desire for self-actualisation within the regulatory and paradoxically osmotic cultural frameworks that shape one’s identity. In Ifaskoti yomQhakancu , the associative power of silk ribbons and leather so common to his practice take the form of abstract, biomorphic shapes. Rather than a literal account, the microscopic lens offered in this work is suggestive: the materials provide a sense of intimacy; the canvas a kind of Petri dish for the adaptations of culture and identity. Nicholas Hlobo (b. 1975, South Africa) has won multiple awards, including the Standard Bank Young Artist for Visual Art (2009). Solo exhibitions have taken place at institutions including the Uppsala Konstmuseum (Sweden: 2017) and Tate Modern, London (UK: 2008). In 2011 Hlobo showed newly commissioned work at the 54th Venice Biennale (Italy), amongst others. 11 Nicholas Hlobo SOUTH AFRICAN 1975- Ifaskoti yomQhakancu 2018 ribbons and leather on cotton canvas 100 by 100cm ZAR570 000 - 850 000 £30 000 - 45 000 $40 000 - 60 000 € 35 000 - 53 000 PROVENANCE Donated by the artist. Courtesy of Lehmann Maupin, New York, Hong Kong and Seoul and Stevenson Gallery, Cape Town.