Misheck Masamvu / Still / 2016

Misheck Masamvu’s new body of work for his 2016 exhibition Still at Goodman Gallery Johannesburg, allows him to develop and understand his own grammar and the effect his personal circumstances have on the broader position and the formal construction of his paintings. Contradiction and conflict serve as undercurrents in the works; distorted figures transmute out of raging landscapes. While violent motion is depicted in the brush strokes and paint-work, there is a sense of immovability – as if the figures are trapped within torrents of painted land, caught within their own past and their own circumstance. For Masamvu, taking ownership of the landscape (perhaps, like the political act of taking ownership of the land) is a multidimensional act of personal and group consciousness. According to the artist, ‘My focus in painting has been to understand my grammar. I believe I have created an alphabet that has helped me paint and speak my truth. I took the initiative to study how the dialogue between my reality and ideas were influencing the painting outcome. I have recollected various motifs from previous work; I have rediscovered the power of non conformity in the approach to what painting ought to be. I am happy to slide into the purity of form, design, and the mystery of black.’ Textually, the exhibition relies on the double meaning of the word ‘Still’, connoting both quietness and repetitiousness. In a poem about the word, Masamvu employs the latter in order to arrive at the former, beginning with the act of weeping and ending with the motionlessness of death. Still crying in the rain Still hiding pregnancies Still holding the wound Still hiding the scar Still waiting Still burying evidence Still running away from the police Still pointing at failing states Still in prison Still filling the potholes Still standing in the queue Still border jumping Still Flipping channels Still under the knife Still unpaid Still still Still masturbating Still evading tax Still oppressed Still hungry Still loving ‘n hating Still rockin’ second hand Still stuck Still unemployed Still vending Still resentful Still on drugs Still at mum’s house Still on the toilet seat Still hearing voices Still asking ‘Hanziyi?’ Still revolting Still in darkness Still a hypocrite Still hammered Still losing Still ignoring you Still back biting Still seeking asylum Still digging trenches Still under the spell Still in hurting Still bitching Still on death bed . www.goodman-gallery.com