Artist Database

Blessing Ngobeni was born in the small rural town of Tzaneen, Limpopo. At the age of ten he moved to Johannesburg where, after a tumultuous decade, he entered the contemporary art scene. Bringing with him a unique style and a critique of political regimes, Ngobeni has made the corruption, incompetence, and duplicity of the current South African ruling elite the subject of his work. Ngobeni has received many accolades on his artistic merit, most notably the Reinhold Cassirer Award (2011); the Impact Award, Arts and Culture Trust (2013); the Mail & Guardian’s 200 Young South Africans (2013); and the Standard Bank Young Artist Award (2020). Ngobeni has held numerous solo exhibitions both locally and abroad and enjoys regular appearances at the Johannesburg and Cape Town Art Fairs. His artworks have been featured internationally at the EXPO Chicago (2017 and 2018) and PULSE Miami Beach (2018), both in the United States. The Blessing Ngobeni Art Prize – an award that is aimed at assisting young and emerging visual artists – was launched by the artist in 2016.