IN FOCUS: NDIKHUMBULE NGQINAMBI | THE MASTER’S UNEXPLORED LIBRARY

NDIKHUMBULE NGQINAMBI
THE MASTER'S UNXEPLORED LIBRARY 

Opening reception: Wednesday 10th December - 6pm

The practice of Ndikhumbule Ngqinambi has always centred around the depiction of landscape. His earliest works were of empty landscapes, devoid of people. The introduction of human figures served as a catalytic turning point. Inspired by the narrative capacity of cinema and theatre, Ngqinambi began to cast his figures as characters positioned within his painted scenery in order to tell stories. This latest body of work is the culmination of his drive to conjure epic, surreal dramas which unfold in a no man’s land among vast mountains and strange structures, underscored by the dynamic velocity of ritualistic action taking place between past and present, dream and reality.

As a body of work, ‘The Master’s Unexplored Library’ stems from the title of an earlier 2019 piece which depicts monumental shelves of books loaded with film reels, statues and scrolls, as many of the paintings in this new exhibition do as well. “I decided to use this title,” Ngqinambi comments, “as it illustrates the importance of acquiring and preserving information, and the importance of the workings of imagination.” For Ngqinambi, his mind is a library of images, a centre where data is generated and stored. Without translation into paint, these images are not accessible to the audience – and some remain unknowable to the artist himself. He studies and selects these mental images, processing and rearranging them to be intelligible to the audience – intelligible but not obvious.

With the larger works on canvas, Ngqinambi explores themes related to land. Circular forms that look unfinished, perhaps under construction, draw a vague line between home and house, raising questions about architecture and a place of belonging. In contrast to the large geometric shapes of ambiguous materials dominating his artworks, Ngqinambi makes use of small figures within them to explore the issue of property. Aside from commercial activities, he questions the purpose of land in relation to indigenous communities. Ngqinambi celebrates the land as a place of memory, belonging, exploration, prayer, healing, and as a place of play. “In some pieces,” he explains, “I depict acts of dialogue, gender clashes, power relations and physical conflicts. These scenes are relevant to the times we are living in.”

In the smaller works of paper, Ngqinambi is both critical and introspective in his examination of cultural norms. Engaging with social contexts – historical and future – in subtle and disconcerting ways, the paintings illustrate how traditional practices might look if merged with modern icons in contemporary spaces.

Celebrating the creative capacity of imagination, this body of work encourages the study of images both mental and concrete. “I have stopped guiding the narrative, so as to make images that inspire me, rather than to express personal feelings or make a statement. I am trying to create work that surprises me, and also work that I myself can enjoy, and learn from.” Whether the figures depicted are striding through water, holding knives behind their backs, sitting on a mountainside or precariously rowing a boat full of books, these are images that one can try parse like a text in an unusual book, or a poem.

Central to his practice, the repeated use of books as symbols reflect Ngqinambi’s desire to encourage a culture of thinking, reading and the preservation of knowledge. He also imagines books as precious, perhaps as scarce treasures that will be worth fighting for in the future. The books represent a plea for the restoration of sanity and common sense, which seem to be eroding in current times. A hope for us to discover a moral compass for our times.

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Ndikhumbule Ngqinambi is a South African painter based in Cape Town. Ngqinambi is predominantly self-taught, though he studied at the Community Arts Project for a period. His heavily symbolic figurative paintings are a commentary on the global and South African political landscape, while exploring themes such as spirituality, ecology and social welfare, resulting in what he calls ‘extreme figurative expression’. Figures within his painted landscapes are the catalyst that drive his conceptual narratives.

Ngqinambi has participated in several artist residencies. In 2017 he was invited to take part in a residency at Iaspis Sweden, recommended by Professor Sarat Mahaj. In 2013 he was awarded a residency at the Akademie Schloss Solitude in Germany. In 2012 he won a Foundation Brachere residency award at the Dak’art Biennale in Senegal. In 2011 he was Awarded a Peter Denzig and Lava Thomas residency at Djerassi Artist Residency in California, USA. In the same year, he participated in a residency at Sacater in Bahia, Brazil.

He has had several solo exhibitions locally and internationally in museums, experimental project spaces and in commercial galleries. Corporate collections include Sanlam Private Wealth, Telkom SA, the Iziko South African National Gallery and the University of Cape Town.