“I think art has the ability to make its audience sympathise, and momentarily forget or, alternatively, be reminded of certain things happening in the world.”
Race and power reimagined in jubilant works of art.
Ndzube’s practice is absurd, joyful and conceptually weighty. He works across painting and sculpture, often fusing 2D canvases with 3D forms. In his sculpture, charismatic figures stand, flail, and dance with exaggerated hips and stomachs. Made out of second-hand shirts, ties and suit-trousers, the works evoke the archetype of the African Dandy, as well as the street style of the artist’s home, Masiphumelele, a township in Cape Town. In Ndzube’s paintings, surreal compositions depict arid landscapes and macabre human creatures, as if Francis Bacon had painted the Grinch. The race and gender of...
Bio
Simphiwe Ndzube was born in 1990 in Capetown, South Africa, and now lives and works in Los Angeles, USA.
Education
Growing up in Capetown, where he also attended art school and university, Ndzube stresses the importance of his art remaining accessible and relevant for people from similar communities to his own.
Collections
Works featured in international collections including the CC Foundation, Shanghai; HOW Art Museum, Shanghai; Museo Kaluz, Mexico City; Rupert Museum, Cape Town; Rubell family collection, Miami; Iziko South African National Gallery, Cape Town and Zeitz MOCAA, Cape Town.
