Biography

Mohau Modisakeng was born in Soweto in 1986 and lives and works in Cape Town, South Africa.

Modisakeng completed his undergraduate degree at the Michaelis School of Fine Art, Cape Town in 2009 and was awarded the Merrill Lynch Scholarship. He worked towards his Masters degree at the same institution, graduating in 2014.

In 2016, Modisakeng was awarded the Standard Bank Young Artist Award for Visual Art, the foremost art award in Africa. He was also also awarded the SASOL New Signatures Award, Pretoria, South Africa for 2011. Modisakeng was a finalist in the MTN New Contemporaries Awards, Durban, South Africa, 2010 and in the same year granted the Spier Residency Award at the Gyeonggi Creation Center, South Korea. In 2013 he was visiting artist at San Francisco Art Institute, USA and participated in the 2011 IAAB International Artists Exchange Program in Basel, Switzerland.

Solo presentations include: Lefa la Ntate, which travelled to six different locations across South Africa including IZIKO South African National Gallery in Cape Town and the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown (2016-17); Bophirima at Tyburn Gallery, London (2016); ENDABENI, Galerie Ron Mandos, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (2016); Mohau Modisakeng, Kunstraum Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria (2015); Mohau Modisakeng, Big Pond Artworks, Munich, Germany (2015); Mohau Modisakeng, Chavonnes Battery Museum in partnership with Zeitz MOCAA (2014-2015); Volta NY, New York, USA (2014) and Untitled, Pretoria Art Museum, Pretoria, South Africa (2012).

In 2017, Modisakeng is part of a two-person exhibition for the South African Pavilion at the 57^th Venice Biennale. Recently, he participated in What remains is tomorrow, curated by Christopher Till and Jeremy Rose for the South African Pavilion at 56th Venice Biennale (2015). He produced an ambitious new video work in association with Samsung as a special project for the 2013 FNB Joburg Art Fair and participated in the Biennale International d’Art Contemporain, Fort de France, Martinique (2013). He also showed his film To Move Mountains at the 62nd International Short Film Festival Oberhausen, Germany (2016).

Group exhibitions include Performing Portraiture, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts, USA (2014); Brave New World…20 Years of Democracy, IZIKO South African National Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa (2014) and Out of Focus: Photography, Saatchi Gallery, London, United Kingdom (2012).

His work is included in public collections such as the Johannesburg Art Gallery, IZIKO South African National Gallery (Cape Town), Saatchi Gallery (London), and Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (Zeitz MOCAA).

Education

2014

Master of Fine Art, Michaelis School of Fine Art, Cape Town, South Africa.

2009

Bachelor of Art in Fine Art, Michaelis School of Fine Art, Cape Town, South Africa.

Selected Solo Exhibitions

2017

ZION, Performa 17 Biennial, New York, NY, USA.

Lefa la Ntate, Johannes Stegmann Art Gallery,University of the Free State, South Africa.

Lefa la Ntate, Tatham Art Gallery Pietermaritzburg, South Africa.

Lefa la Ntate, Standard Bank Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa.

2016

Lefa la Ntate, National Arts Festival, Grahamstown, South Africa.

Lefa la Ntate, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Art Museum, Port Elizabeth, South Africa.

Lefa la Ntate, IZIKO South African National Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa.

Adam Aronson Fine Arts Center, Laumeier Sculpture Park, St Louis, USA.

Bophirima, Tyburn Gallery, London, UK.

ENDABENI, Galerie Ron Mandos, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

2015

KE KGOMO YA MOSHATE, Kunstraum Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria. (C)

Mohau Modisakeng, Big Pond Artworks, Munich, Germany.

2014

Mohau Modisakeng, Chavonnes Battery Museum Cape Town, South Africa. (C)

Ditaola, Brundyn + Cape Town, South Africa. (C)

Loop Barcelona, Hotel Catalonia Ramblas, Barcelona, Spain.

Volta NY, Brundyn +, New York, USA.

2013

Inzilo, Video Art Powered by Samsung Special Project, FNB Joburg Art Fair, Johannesburg, South Africa.

2012

Untitled: Sasol New Signatures award for 2011, Pretoria Art Museum, Pretoria, South Africa.

2010

Ibutho, Side Gallery, Michael Stevenson, Cape Town, South Africa.

Two person Exhibitions

2017

South African Pavilion, 57^th International Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy. (with Candice Breitz)

Two., We Buy Gold, Brooklyn NY, USA. (with Dineo Seshee Bopape)

Selected Group Exhibitions

2017

Summertime, Jenkins Johnson Gallery, San Francisco, CA, USA.

Regards Croisés, in association with AKAA Art Fair, Voies Off Festival, Arles, France.

Another Antipodes Exhibition: Urban Axis, PS Art Space, Fremantle WA, Australia.

Le jour qui vient, curated by Marie-Ann Yemsi, Galerie des Galeries, Galeries Lafayette, Paris, France.

2016

Lagos Photo Festival, Lagos, Nigeria.

Re(as)sisting Narratives, Framer Framed, Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Fünf Seen Film Festival, Starnberg, Germany.

62nd International Short Film Festival Oberhausen, Germany

Prefer Life, Reydan Weiss Collection, The Weserburg, Bremen, Germany.

2015

Broken English, Tyburn Gallery, London, UK.

DIS/PLACE, MoCADA, Museum of Contemporary Diasporan Arts, New York, USA.

Foreign Bodies, Whatiftheworld, Cape Town, South Africa.

What Remains is Tomorrow, South African Pavilion, 56th Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy.

Nirox Winter Sculpture Fair, Nirox Foundation, Johannesburg, South Africa.

La Fabrique De L'Homme Moderne, in resonance with Lyon Biennale, La Fabric, Salomon Foundation for Contemporary Art, Annecy, France.

I am not a man and a brother? I am not a woman and a sister, Archer Gallery, Vancouver, Canada.

AFIRIperFOMA, Lagos, Nigeria.

Joburg Art, Sandton Convention Centre, Johannesburg, South Africa.

Unseen photofair, Galerie Ron Mandos, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

2014

Anyway, the Wind Blows, Brundyn + Gonsalves +, Cape Town, South Africa.

Here Today, The Old Sorting Office, London, UK.

Performing Portraiture, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

Fearless Renewal, MC Theater, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Ukukhumula, GIPCA Live Art Festival, City Hall, Cape Town, South Africa.

Barongwa: Blindspot, Grahamstown Arts Festival, Grahamstown, South Africa.

Personal/Political, 21C Museum, Louisville, USA.

Loop Art Fair, Silencio Club, Paris, France.

Brave New World...20 Years of Democracy, IZIKO South African National Gallery, Cape Town, USA.

Art Against the Wall: An Artist Response to Civil Wars, Gallery 72,Atlanta, Georgia, USA.

!Kauru 2014: Rerouting Dialogue 1994- 2014, Unisa Gallery, Pretoria, South Africa.

2013

Ceci n’est pas une Summer Show, Brundyn + Gonsalves +, Cape Town, South Africa.

Personal and Political, 21c Museum, Louisville, Kentucky, USA.

Biennale International d’Art Contemporain, Fort de France, Martinique, France.

Am I not a Man and a Brother? Am I not a Woman and a Sister, James Harris Gallery, Seattle, USA.

Inzilo, Video Art Powered by Samsung special project, FNB Joburg Art Fair, Johannesburg, South Africa.

VOLTA NY, New York, USA.

2012

Sera, Master of Fine Art exhibition, Michaelis School of Fine Art, Cape Town, South Africa.

Material Representation, Brundyn + Gonsalves, Cape Town, South Africa.

Dak’Art, Dakar Biennale, Senegal. Africa.

Uneveness Exhibition, National Gallery, Harare, Zimbabwe.

Newsfeed: Anonymity & Social Media in African Revolutions and Beyond, MoCADA, New York, USA.

Out of Focus: Photography, Saatchi Gallery, London, UK.

Exuberance Project Exhibition, Mandela Rhodes Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa. (C)

Implemented Environments, Brundyn + Gonsalves, Cape Town, South Africa.

Are Fanon, Blank Projects, Cape Town, South Africa.

Greatest Hits, AVA Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa.

MTN New Contemporaries, Durban, South Africa.

2011

Implemented Environments, Brundyn + Gonsalves, Cape Town, South Africa. (C)

2010

S A RE FANON, with Lerato Bereng, Blank Projects, Cape Town, South Africa.

This is Our Time, Brodie/Stevenson, Johannesburg, South Africa. (C)

Greatest Hits, AVA, Cape Town, South Africa.

MTN New Contemporarie, Durban, South Africa.

Spier Contemporary, Cape Town, South Africa.

2009

Ugufa Unezindaba, Graduate exhibition, Michaelis School of Fine Art, Cape Town, South Africa.

Monographs

2016

KE KGOMO YA MOSHATE, Kunstraum Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria, 2016. (forthcoming)

2014

Mohau Modisakeng, Ditaola, Brundyn+, Cape Town, South Africa, 2014. (C)

Publications

2012

Salley, R.J. (coe.), The Exuberance Project, Mandela Rhodes Gallery in association with Michaelis Galleries, Cape Town, South Africa, 2012. (C)

2011

Leibbrandt, Tim, Mauchan, Fiona (Coe.), Implemented Environments, Brundyn +, Cape Town, South Africa, 2011. (C)

Hecker, Judith B. (ed.), Impressions from South Africa, 1965 to Now: Prints from the Museum of Modern Art, Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA, 2011.

2010

Boslan, Joost (coe.), Forex- This is Our Time, Stevenson, South Africa, 2010. (C)

Residencies

2014

Nirox Foundation Residency, Johannesburg, South Africa.

Segera Retreat and the Zeitz Foundation Residency, Segera, Kenya.

2013

Visiting Artist, San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco, USA.

2011

IAAB International Artists Exchange Program, Basel, Switzerland.

2010

Spier Residency Award, Gyeonggi Creation Center, South Korea.

Biography & Press

2017

Yiga, Eugene, Q&A with Mohau Modisakeng about Lefa La Ntate exhibition, bizcommunity.com, 15 June 2017

Sargent, Antwaun, A Powerful Piece of the Venice Biennale Comes to Brooklyn, creators.vice.com, 5 June 2017

Keller, Yelena, “We Buy Gold” Brings a Piece of the Venice Biennale to Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, artsy.net, 3 June 2017

Sargent, Antwaun, A South African Artist’s Self-Portraits Excavate the Traumas of Apartheid, newyorker.com, 27 May 2017

Jayawardane, M Neelika, Venice Biennale: African pavilions and the politics of space, mg.co.za, 19 May 2017

Azimi, Roxana, A la Biennale de Venise, les pavillons africains portent l’art au cœur des plaies, lemonde.fr, 18 May 2017

Gotthardt, Alexa, The Venice Biennale’s 11 Best Pavilions, artsy.net, 10 May 2017

Mercier, Jeanne, Mohau Modisakeng: Le Temps Suspendu, Diptyk Magazine, No. 37, February-March 2017, pp. 52-61

Collison, Lee-Shay, An Introduction to Mohau Modisakeng, South Africa’s Phenomenal Artist, theculturetrip.com, 1 February 2017

2016

Bowen, Ric, I can’t help but make connections…, CCQ Issue 10, issuu.com, August 2016.

Kinsman, Houghton, Where the Sun Sets, frieze.com, 27 July 2016.

Straton, Alan, Standard Bank Young Artist Winner, 2016: Mohau Modisakeng – LEFA LA NTATE, mype.co.za, 25 July 2016.

Gamedze, Thuli, Peripheral Perspectives and the Question of the Land: Mohau Modisakeng’s ‘Lefa La Ntate’, artthrob.co.za, 21 July 2016

McAinsh, Gillian, Nuanced, Profound Multimedia Offering, dispatchlive.co.za, 5 July 2016

Thurman, Chris, Half Art: Grahamstown guarantees astonishing moments, BDLive.co.za, 8 July 2016

Okorokwo, Lily, African Art Guide: Don’t Miss Tyburn Gallery’s Exhibition of Mohau Modisakeng, theglowingcolours.com, 29th May 2016

Gbadamosi, Nosmot, South Africa’s violent history in haunting artworks, edition.cnn.com, 10th June 2016

Hancock, Colin & Page, Thomas, Is this the new home of contemporary art, edition.cnn.com, 31st May 2016

Seymour, Tom, The Post-Apartheid State of South Africa, British Journal of Photography, 27 May 2016

——, 30 Emerging Artists to Watch This Spring, artsy.net, 13 April 2016.

Klawansky, Gillian, Abstract made real, destinyman.com, 23rd February 2016.

2015

Brüggeller, Monika, Individualität des Kollektiven, Kronen Zeitung Nr. 19.923, 10th October 2015. p.49.

Coussonnet, Clelia, 56th Venice Biennale | An Uneven African Presence, anotherafrica.net, 18th May 2015.

Jelcic, Ivona, Zeremonie der Zerrissenheit, Tiroler Tageszeitung Mittwoch, 09th September 2015. p.15.

Kampmann, Matthias, Kritischer Hochglanz, artmagazine.cc, 8th October 2015.

Leiman, Layla, FNB JoburgArtFair: Mohau Modisakeng | The Persona is Political, 10and5.com, 18th August 2015.

Mann, Dave, Meet the Standard Bank Young Artist Award Winners for 2016, 10and5.com, 29th October 2015.

Nikolussi-Salzer, Dorothea, Hochglanzfotos und Kohlehaufen, Der Standard, Mittwoch 23, September 2015. p.29.

Pernegger, Karin, Ke Kgomo Ya Moshate, Indaba. Das SADOCC-Magazin für das Südliche Afrika, October 2015. p.27.

Puchner, Alexandra Marlene, Feinsinnige Vergangenheitsbewältigung, 20er Nr. 168, September 2015. p.29.

Roberts, Oliver, Mohau Modisakeng's self-portraits will blow you away with their strange beauty, Sunday Times Lifestyle Magazine, 26th November 2015.

Schiestl, Helmut, Mohau Modisakeng im Kunstraum Innsbruck, provinnsbruck.at, 03rd Decmeber 2015.

Tylio, Malibongwe, Q&A: Mohau Modisakeng, visi.co.za, 13th November 2015.

——, Mohau Modisakeng in Innsbruck, kunstmarkt.com, 03 December 2015.

——, Mohau Modisakeng on winning the Standard Bank Young Artist award, southcoastnews.co.za, 14th November 2015.

——, Mohau Modisakeng Wins 2016 Standard Bank Young Artist Award, theglowingcolours.com, 03rd November 2015.

——, Standard Bank Young Artist Awards 2016, creativefeel.co.za, 03rd November 2015.

——, Mohau Modisakeng Wins the 2016 Standard Bank Young Artist Award for Visual Art, tecaa.org, 29th October 2015.

——, 2016 Standard Bank Young Artist Award Winners Announced, artthrob.co.za, 29th October 2015.

——, Standard Bank Young Artist Award winners, artlink.co.za, 28th October 2015.

2014

Joja, Athi Mongezeleli, Feathers unfurl, steel surrounds, mailandguardian.com, 4th July 2014.

Jolly, Lucinda, Throwing the Bones, Cape Times, iol.co.za, 04th July 2014.

Kinsman, Houghton, Next Chapter: Mohau Modisakeng on investigating the impact of cultural histories on contemporary society, anotherafrica.net, 15th September 2014.

Mqombothi, Liduduma'lingani, Artist Mohau Modisakeng: Probing Subliminal Violence, africasacountry.com, 26th June 2014.

O’Toole, Sean, Mohau Modisakeng, Frieze.com, Issue 165, September 2014.

Soudien, Amie, Ditaola: Mohau Modisakeng at Brundyn, artthrob.co.za, May 2014.

----, A Moment with Artist Mohau Modisakeng, nichluxe.com, July 2014.

—, The Quiet Violence of Dreams, City Press, news24.com, 12th July 2014.

2013

Tyilo, Malibongwe, Meet Mohau, visi.co.za, 27th September 2013.

2011

Dodd Alexandra, Spectras of Violence, f11magazine.com, 28th May 2011.

Awards

2015

Standard Bank, Young Artist for Visual Arts.

2013

Video Art Powered by Samsung, FNB, Joburg Art Fair, Johannesburg, South Africa.

2011

Winner, SASOL New Signatures Art Competition, Pretoria, South Africa.

2010

Finalist, MTN New Contemporaries Awards, Durban, South Africa.

2009

Merrill Lynch Scholarship, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.

Collections

Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa, Cape Town, South Africa.

Piet Viljoen Private Collection.

Wendy Fisher Private Collection.

Emile Stipp Private Collection.

Manuel de Santaren Private Collection.

Salsali Private Museum.

The Ekard Private Collection.

Johannesburg Art Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa.

IZIKO South African National Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa.

Saatchi Gallery, London, United Kingdom.

21C Museum Hotel, Kentucky, USA.

University of South Africa, Cape Town, South Africa.

New Church Museum, Cape Town, South Africa.

Shanti Art Collection.

Modern Forms.

Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, MN, USA.

Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Montreal, Canada.