Cinga Samson: Nzulu yemfihlakalo
White Cube Mason鈥檚 Yard is pleased to present a new group of oil paintings by South African artist Cinga Samson. The exhibition title, 鈥楴zulu yemfihlakalo鈥�, is borrowed from an isiXhosa phrase which loosely translates to 鈥榯he depth of mystery鈥�, and is used to express devotion while also serving as a description of God. The complex nature of this phrase informs each one of the works in Samson鈥檚 exhibition. Hyperreal, and possessing a hallucinatory quality, in these paintings Samson provokes an encounter with the unknown and gives form to the intangible metaphysical realms that impact our mortal existence.
Completed in his studio in Cape Town, the artist鈥檚 dreamlike large-scale tableaux and portraits draw from his immediate environment as well as addressing wider concerns. Presenting mysterious figures engaging in seemingly secret ceremonies, Samson鈥檚 work prompts the viewer to confront the epistemological boundaries of our material understanding. Situated against the backdrop of an urban environment and surrounding natural landscape, the paintings register as familiar, though several anomalies set Samson鈥檚 world apart from the quotidian. Shrouded in a Cimmerian darkness, the figures frequently appear with objects or memento mori, such as white lace, raw meat, animal innards and skulls. Adopting graceful, funereal movements, the figures鈥� blank white eyes seem to dismiss the viewer鈥檚 gaze.
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White Cube Mason鈥檚 Yard is pleased to present a new group of oil paintings by South African artist Cinga Samson. The exhibition title, 鈥楴zulu yemfihlakalo鈥�, is borrowed from an isiXhosa phrase which loosely translates to 鈥榯he depth of mystery鈥�, and is used to express devotion while also serving as a description of God. The complex nature of this phrase informs each one of the works in Samson鈥檚 exhibition. Hyperreal, and possessing a hallucinatory quality, in these paintings Samson provokes an encounter with the unknown and gives form to the intangible metaphysical realms that impact our mortal existence.
Completed in his studio in Cape Town, the artist鈥檚 dreamlike large-scale tableaux and portraits draw from his immediate environment as well as addressing wider concerns. Presenting mysterious figures engaging in seemingly secret ceremonies, Samson鈥檚 work prompts the viewer to confront the epistemological boundaries of our material understanding. Situated against the backdrop of an urban environment and surrounding natural landscape, the paintings register as familiar, though several anomalies set Samson鈥檚 world apart from the quotidian. Shrouded in a Cimmerian darkness, the figures frequently appear with objects or memento mori, such as white lace, raw meat, animal innards and skulls. Adopting graceful, funereal movements, the figures鈥� blank white eyes seem to dismiss the viewer鈥檚 gaze.
Artists on show
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White Cube Mason鈥檚 Yard is pleased to present 鈥楴zulu yemfihlakalo鈥�, a new group of oil paintings by South African artist Cinga Samson.
White Cube Mason鈥檚 Yard is pleased to present a new group of oil paintings by South African artist Cinga Samson.
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