 COLBERT MASHILE Kosa-Ya-Bosego II (Song of the Night II) |
 COLBERT MASHILE Komiki |
Artist's statement
Colbert Mashile was born in 1972 in Bushbuckridge in the Mpumalanga Province of South Africa. Mashile says, 'I come from a place that is shrouded by powerful cultural norms and customs.' These customs, such as the ritual of circumcision (which both he and his wife have undergone), informed his earliest work, and he sought refuge and healing through art.
Colbert Mashile explores the psychological impact of traditional circumcision and initiation rituals on initiates. He also explores the often-problematic narratives of collective cultural determinants within these communities. As Colbert Mashile has matured, the psychological underpinnings are still evident, but his imagery has transgressed these limitations to begin addressing issues such as home, language and the natural landscape.
Mashile comes from a family of teachers and was expected to join the family trend on completion of high school. While studying in Pretoria he became curious about the art that he saw in gallery windows on the streets of Pretoria. This led him to the Johannesburg Art Foundation and then to a degree in Fine Arts from the university of the Witwatersrand.
Colbert Mashile has risen to prominence on both national and international levels, focusing on initiation rituals and the traditions around circumcision. His recent work builds upon these themes but is infused with the natural and mystical elements that have become part of his environment since moving back to rural Mpumalanga. In nearly every work, what emerges is a subtle tension between an invasive nature and a sense of serenity. It is this dichotomy that is so engaging.
This artist has an uncanny ability to "tune into" universal psychological archetypes in his work. These images are completely based in his African identity and yet they link up with the universal. His horned figures that loom over men, coffin-like vehicles and vast landscapes fill his prints. Mashile's fine sense of colour compliments his forms, which seem to celebrate a connection to the earth.
Mystical figures, phallic images, pods, huts and organic shapes are but some of the visual stimuli, which abound in Mashile's recent work. The commentary on the relation of humans to the environment is unquestionable. Minuscule figures stand unobtrusively atop high structures surrounded by open fields. Some of the paintings depict a clear concern with masculinity. Horns dominate the structures, conveying male aggression.
Unable to handle the stress of Johannesburg, Mashile has found refuge for himself and his wife and daughters in the quiet of Mpumalanga where he can 'feel and experience my Africanness, let emotions come through and discover the truth about myself.'
Mashile, a quiet individual, reflects on his use of symbols and icons. He comments that it simply shows the 'truth about the land and its people and thus my existence in South Africa'. This poignant statement reflects someone who has a clear understanding of the prevalent issues in South Africa. Mashile has found an individual way in which to artistically communicate his own concerns and those of society as a whole, and he does so in a remarkable manner. His work references various elements of more traditional art-production techniques (printmaking and painting). But, within this production, he isolates the personal narrative as the loudest voice within a cacophony of layers of meaning and reference.
Biography
Education and Training
University of the Witwatersrand
Certificate: Internship Course (June, 2002)
Master of Arts in Heritage Studies (2001-)
Majors:
Tourism and Developmental Studies
Environmental Studies
Public Culture Studies
Research Report (pending)
University of the Witwatersrand
Bachelor of Arts in Fine Arts (1996-2000)
Special Awards:
Certificate of Merit: Outstanding Results in Drawing & Design III (1998)
Certificate of First Class: Painting IV (1999)
Johannesburg Art Foundation
Certificate in Art Foundation Course (1992-1994)
Tladishi High School
Matric-1989
Exhibitions
JHB Art Foundation-1994
Martienssen, University of the Witwatersrand-1998 & 1999
ABSA Gallery, Johannesburg-2000
UNISA Art Gallery-2000
Malangatana in South Africa, Sandton Civic Gallery-2000
Bill Ainslie Art Gallery-2000
Klein Karoo National Arts Festival-2000
Museum Africa Gallery-2001
The Art Space Gallery-2001
Art On Paper Gallery-2002 (April & August)
Klein Karoo National Arts Festival-2002
Gallery On The Square, "Nga Ya Fsa" : Sandton-2002 (Group Show)
Axis Gallery, New York, "Circumcised/Circumscribed" - January 2003 (Group Show)
Art Space, Johannesburg - January 2003 (Group Show)
Johannesburg Art Gallery, "Show Me Home" : 5 April - 25 May 2003 (Group Show)
Gallery On The Square, Sandton, "A New Collection" : 28 June - 12 July 2003 (Group Show)
NSA Gallery, Durban : "Tsa Ka Mafuri": 19 August - 7 September 2003 (Solo Show)
ABSA L' Atelier Competition Exhibition 2004
Brett Kebble Awards Exhibition 2004
Boston, Smithsonian, Gibbs Museum, Detroit - United States (Traveling Show):
"A Decade of Democracy: Witnessing South Africa": 2004 - 2005 (Group Show)
"The ID of South African Artists" - Amsterdam, Holland: 2004 - 2005 (Group Show)
South African National Gallery, Cape Town, "A Decade of Democracy: South African Art 1994 - 2004
from the Permanent Collection - 2004 (Group Show)
Gallery On The Square, Sandton, "Tsa Bagale": 6 - 31 October 2004 (Solo Show)
Johannesburg Art Gallery, "Making Waves" (A selection of works from the SABC art collection):
November 2004 - February 2005 (Group Show)
Johannesburg Art Gallery, "Negotiated Identities, Black Bodies": 24 October 2004 - 2 January 2005 (Group Show)
Brett Kebble Awards Exhibition 2005
ABSA L' Atelier Competition Exhibition 2005
Sasol New Signatures Competition Exhibition 2005
Migrations Culturelles, Bordeaux , France: "Les arts de la Coexistence?": September 2005 (Group Show)
Médiathèque, Biarritz, France: "Les arts de la Coexistence?": November 2005 (Group Show)
Florence Biennale, Florence, Italy: 3 - 11 December 2005
Alliance Francaise, Paris, France: "Les arts de la Coexistence?": January 2006 (Group Show)
Musee des Arts Derniers, Paris, France: "Les arts de la Coexistence?": February 2006 (Group Show)
KZNSA Gallery, Durban: "New Painting": 30 March - 23 April 2006 (Group Show)
Unisa Art Gallery, Pretoria: "New Painting": 9 May - 2 June 2006 (Group Show)
DAK' ART, Senegal: 1 - 10 May 2006
Johannesburg Art Gallery, Johannesburg: "New Painting": 23 July - 3 September 2006 (Group Show)
AVA, Cape Town: "Mmawaka-Montedi": 16 October - 10 November 2006 (Solo Show)
Collections
University of the Witwatersrand
SASOL Limited
NEDCOR Bank
MTN Corporation
BHP Billiton (Gencor)
South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC)
Johannesburg Art Gallery
E. Oppenheimer & Sons
Stanlib
The Mandela Foundation
De Beers
The South African National Gallery
Durban Art Gallery
YSA
IBM
3M
African Life
Daniel Erasmus Attorneys
Selected Publications
2006
Virginia Mackenny, 'Painting ourselves out of a corner' in Storm Janse Van Rensburg (ed), New Painting:
A group exhibition of recent South African art (Kwazulu Natal Society of Arts: Durban)
2005
Sean O' Toole, 'Animist Voice' in Art South Africa, Vol 4, No. 2, Summer
2004
Gary van Wyk (ed), A Decade of Democracy: Witnessing South Africa, catalogue
(Museum of the National Center of Afro-American Artists, Boston)
Moleleki Frank Ledimo in Sophie Perryer (ed), 10 Years 100 Artists: Art in a Democratic South Africa
(Bell-Roberts Publishing & Struik Publishers, Cape Town)
Moleleki Frank Ledimo, 'Rites of Passage: Refiguring initiation' in Emma Bedford (ed), A Decade of Democracy:
Contemporary South African Art 1994 - 2004 from the permanent Collection of Iziko: South African National Gallery
(Double Storey, Cape Town)
2003
Tumelo Mosaka, 'Circumcised/Circumscribed' in Art South Africa, Vol 1, No. 3, Autumn
Artist Residencies
Cavershim Press, KZN, South Africa, 2004
McColl Center for Visual Arts: Charlotte, North Carolina, U.S.A. January - March 2005
Cavershim Press, KZN, South Africa. September - October