Still Becoming

Notes

Mmangaliso Nzuza began painting in 2020 while studying public policy at the University of Edinburgh. After returning to South Africa in 2022, he settled in Cape Town a year later, where his graphically bold paintings of generic black figures set against neutral grounds quickly drew attention. Nzuza's charismatic compositions, which portray contemplative solitude and communal reverie, merge the influence of Picasso and Braque's figural simplification with Lynette Yiadom-Boakye's sensuous use of colour. Like early Irma Stern, he uses black to define his figures. Unlike Peter Clarke or George Pemba, social realists who often drew inspiration from family and domestic scenes, Nzuza spontaneously develops his large-scale paintings directly on the canvas, starting with a rough sketch and applying bold bands of colour with a large brush. This introspective work is exemplary of his ambition to create "ambiguous" scenes that are "sombre but peaceful."¹

^1. Sean O'Toole (2024) Interview with artist, Woodstock, Cape Town, 5 February.