In Collection: Nicholas Hlobo: All the lightning birds are after me, 2011. In Jochen Zeitz Collection
Arsenale dragon is returning to Africa
Sculpture by Johannesburg-based artist Nicholas Hlobo bought by head of sportswear company Puma
By Cristina Ruiz. Web only
Published online: 03 June 2011
Nicholas Hlobo’s “Iimpundulu Zonke Ziyandilandela (All the Lightning Birds Are After Me)” is flying back to Africa
VENICE. A giant rubber dragon created for the Venice Biennale by the South African artist Nicholas Hlobo has been bought by the German collector Jochen Zeitz, who is chairman and chief executive of the sportswear company Puma.
The work, which is made of tyre inner tubes, is currently installed in the Arsenale at the heart of “Illuminazioni”, the exhibition organised by Bice Curiger. The creature is shown in flight with wings extended and its long tail rolled up in coils behind it. Red ribbons, which have been stitched throughout the dragon’s body, stretch down to the ground underneath it.
Phulaphulalani 2
The sculpture was bought for Zeitz by Mark Coetzee, the curator of his personal collection as well as chief curator of Puma Creative, who described it as “the highlight” of the art on display in Venice this week. “I know that this will become a seminal piece for the artist and the Jochen Zeitz Collection,” said Coetzee.
The dragon will soon go on display in a museum in Africa, although Coetzee declined to give further details. He would also not reveal the price paid for the work but said that a sculpture by the artist of similar size would normally sell for around $250,000.
2013
Hlobo, who is participating in the biennale for the first time, currently has work on show in several Venetian venues. As well as his dragon in the Arsenale, an enormous dying mutant quilted from an assortment of materials including leather collected from the streets of Johannesburg is on display at the Palazzo Grassi as part of “The World Belongs to You” (until 31 December) drawn from the collection of French billionaire François Pinault.
A rubber creature festooned with ribbons, which recalls a giant squid is on show at the Palazzo Papadopoli as part of an exhibition of artists shortlisted for the Future Generation Art Prize founded by Ukrainian collector Victor Pinchuk.
Hlobo says he drew his inspiration for the Arsenale dragon from many sources. “I looked at a lot of paintings by Tintoretto and found that many of them had birds in them,” he said.
The title of the piece in the artist’s native Xhosa language is Iimpundulu Zonke Ziyandilandela (All the Lightning Birds Are After Me). This refers to a song about a mythological creature, which “at times presents itself as a bird and at times as a handsome young man, but only to women,” said Hlobo.
Ingubo Yeszwe, 2008.
Interview with Nicholas Hlobo by Diane Frankel
Nicholas Hlobo cuts, tears, punctures and resews varied materials such as paper, black inner tube, satin ribbon, leather, textiles that are rich in associations and creates drawings, sculptural installations and performances where he explores issues of personal identity, such as gender, sexuality, ethnicity, origins and colonial history. As Hlobo explains in the following video, he makes the seam, which he highlights by using bright satin ribbon, central to his work by giving it metaphorical significance. In his drawings he wants to make a mark but instead of using a pen he chooses a sharp object and makes a scar. The action is more violent and the following process of sewing is a process of mending, of repair. Sean O’Toole speaks of the seam as “ the defining metaphor of Hlobo ‘s work, grafting histories and reconciling opposites.”
Hlobo’s drawings are a visual delight: imaginative, intricate and provocative. Increasingly they are gaining a sculptural quality as threads and other materials spill out of the frame onto the wall reaching the floor. His sculptural works often made out of black inner tube with its association to industrialization and urban growth feel more aggressive and invasive yet are tempered by the yielding quality of the rubber material, the softness of the textiles and Hlobo’s general unwillingness to be fully explicit and lay things bare.
Hlobo was born in Cape Town in 1975 and belongs to the Xhosa culture. He tends to title his works in Xhosa. Asked about the reasons of his choice, he responds:
“ It opens up worlds that are closed. It challenges the notion that art making is a purely western tradition and should solely exist within the constraints of the English language. It challenges the idea that English is the best way to communicate. Most of my work requires curiosity, to look a bit further. The visual language is universal but most work is informed by a personal way of seeing. My work speaks of my place of origin and makes reference to my South African history.”
Tyaphaka, 2012.
Nicholas Hlobo is a rising international star. He was included in the 2011 Venice Biennale, was chosen in 2010 by Rolex for the Mentor and Protégé program with Anish Kapoor, and has been included in the Paris Triennale, Tate Modern, and Palazzo Grassi.
Courtesy: Stevenson Gallery SA.
Hlobo is one of the artists in ‘Threads’ , Museum Arnhem, The Netherlands.