Nandipha Mntambo

Nandipha Mntambo is a South African artist who has become famous for her sculptures, videos and photographs^[1] that focus on human female body and identity by using natural, organic materials.

Life

Nandipha Mntambo was born in Swaziland, Southern Africa, in 1982. She graduated with a Masters in Fine Art (with distinction) from the Michaelis School of Fine Art, University of Cape Town, in June 2007. ^[2] She lives and works in South Africa.

Work philosophy

In her work, Nandipha Mntambo focuses on the human body and the organic nature of identity, using mainly natural materials and experimenting with sculptures, videos and photography. One of her favourite materials is the skin of the cow, often also used as a covering for human bodies - boneless sculptures - and thus oscillating between evoking the garments that can be shod at will and the bodies that once contained living, breathing, masticating beings with four stomachs. Mntambo embraces this ambiguity and likes to play with the tension between the sightly and the unsightly by manipulating how her viewers negotiate the two aspects of the hide. ^[3]

She states:

"My intention is to explore the physical and tactile properties of hide and aspects of control that allow or prevent me from manipulating this material in the context of the female body and contemporary art. I have used cowhide as a means to subvert expected associations with corporeal presence, femininity, sexuality and vulnerability. The work I create seeks to challenge and subvert preconceptions regarding representation of the female body." (Catalogue statement for 'Ingabisa' at Michael Stevenson 2007)

"Themes of confrontation, protection and refuge play out particularly in relation to inner conflicts and to notions of self-love/hatred. The bronze, Sengifikile, uses my own features as a foundation, but takes on the guise of a bull. Referencing the head-and-shoulder busts of the Renaissance tradition I challenge male and female roles in society and expected associations with femininity, sexuality and vulnerability." ^[4]

Exhibitions

Solo exhibitions (selection)

• 2007 'Ingabisa', Michael Stevenson Gallery, Cape Town
• 2007 'Locating me in order to see you' (Master's exhibition), Michaelis Gallery, Cape Town

Group exhibitions (selection)

• 2008 'Disguise', Michael Stevenson Gallery, Cape Town
• 2008 Dak'art, Dakar Biennale, Senegal
• 2008 'Black Womanhood: Images, Icons, and Ideologies of the African Body', Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire
• 2008 'Skin-to-skin: Challenging textile art',t Standard Bank Gallery, Johannesburg
• 2008 '.za: giovane arte dal Sudafrica', Palazzo delle Papesse, Siena
• 2008 'The Trickster' at ArtExtra, Johannesburg
• 2007 'Summer 2007/8', Michael Stevenson, Cape Town
• 2007 'Apartheid: The South African Mirror', Centre de Cultura Contemporania de Barcelona
• 2007 'Afterlife', Michael Stevenson Gallery, Cape Town
• 2006 'Olivida quien soy - Erase me from who I am', Centro Atlantico de Arte Moderno, Las Palmas
• 2006 'MTN New Contemporaries', Johannesburg Art Gallery, Johannesburg
• 2006 'Second to None', Iziko South African National Gallery, Cape Town
• 2005 'In the making: Materials and Process', Michael Stevenson Gallery, Cape Town
• 2001/2 Curated the Parliamentary Millennium Project (PMP)

Awards

• 2005 Curatorial Fellowship, Brett Kebble Art Awards
• 2003/4 Mellon Meyers Fellowship, Michaelis School of Fine Arts

Literature

• Mntambo, Nandipha. Nandipha Mntambo - Locating me in order to see you. University of Cape Town, 2007.
• Mntambo, Nandipha, und Sophie Perryer. Nandipha Mntambo: ingabisa, 16 August - 15 September 2007. Michael Stevenson, 2007.
• Mntambo, Nandipha, Sophie Perryer, und Michael Stevenson Gallery. The encounter. Michael Stevenson, 2009.

References

1. ^ "Nandipha Mntambo doesn't take any bull". Independent Online (South Africa). 9 December 2008. http://www.iol.co.za/lifestyle/nandipha-mntambo-doesn-t-take-any-bull-1.963593. Retrieved 15 July 2011. 
2. ^ Stevenson Gallery
3. ^ artthrob.co.za
4. ^ Dakar Biennale

External links

• [1] review on Artsouthafrica.com
• [2] artist profile at Stevenson Gallery
• [3] profile on David Krut Publishing & Fine Art
• [4] overview on Photography-now.com
• [5] article on Southafrica.info

Persondata
Name	Mntambo, Nandipha
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1982
Place of birth	Swaziland,South Africa
Date of death
Place of death