Some of the great South African portrait artists you must need to know

The contemporary art landscape of Africa is characterized by a versatile list of black South African artists, who understand and capture socio-economic realisms, political tests, dynamic traditions and varied beauty. Culture Trip curates both leading and emerging artists who continue to affect the growth of contemporary art in Africa.

Tracey Rose

Durban-born Tracey Rose is a noted contemporary multimedia artist and frank feminist, best known for her bold performances, video installations and attractive photographic works. Rose faces the politics of identity, including sexual, racial and gender-based themes, and often explores her multicultural ancestry. She competently mixes elements of popular culture with sociological theories to encourage potent displays of South Africa’s political and social landscape. Rose has held solo exhibitions in South Africa as well as Europe and America, and has taken part in a number of international events, including the Venice Biennale.

Meschac Gaba

One of the leading South African portrait artists, MeschacGaba bagged critical acclaim for his travelling exhibition, Museum of Contemporary African Art, inaugurated in 1997 at Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum. Gaba’s extraordinary project consisted of 12 exhibition scenes, including Summer Collection Room, Museum Restaurant and Draft Room, set up across diverse European art institutions over five years – in an attempt to place African art in front of global audiences. In 2013, the Tate Modern purchased and showcased Gaba’s entire ‘museum’, featuring paintings, ceramics and multimedia installations using materials such as paint, plywood, plaster, stones and decommissioned bank notes.

Kudzanai Chiurai

Thrown out from his native Zimbabwe after confidently producing an inflammatory image depicting Robert Mugabe, the country’s notorious leader, with horns and believed by flames in 2009, KudzanaiChiurai now lives and works in Johannesburg. Chiurai was the first black recipient of a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Pretoria, and has since become a major figure in the African contemporary art scene. Chiurai uses dramatic multimedia compositions to confront and challenge the most pressing issues in Southern African, from government corruption to violence, xenophobia and displacement. Chiurai’s work is brutally honest, tearing apart the status quo and challenging the state of African governments through a combination of digital photography, printing, and painting and, more recently, film.

Nástio Mosquito

Angolan multimedia and performance artist Nástio Mosquito trifles with African typecasts in Western contexts, working across the monarchies of music, video and spoken word. Often showed as the central figure in his video animations, Mosquito’s creations make significant political and social declarations. Past exhibitions include 9 Artists (2013) at the Walker Art Centre in Minneapolis, and Across the Board: Politics of Representation (2012) at Tate Modern in London. Mosquito once said, “I do represent, if you are willing, the army of the individuals”, believing that art should not be generated separately, but should involve the community on a large basis.