At HangarBicocca the first solo show in an Italian institution by South African Dineo Seshee Bopape

by Editorial staff, written on 09/28/2022, 13:18:57
Categories: Exhibitions / Topics: Milan – Contemporary art

Pirelli HangarBicocca will host the first solo show in an Italian institution by Dineo Seshee Bopape. From 6 October 2022 to 29 January 2023.

From 6 October 2022 to 29 January 2023 Pirelli HangarBicocca will host the first solo show in an Italian institution from Dineo Seshee Bopapecurated by Lucia Aspesi and Fiammetta Griccioli. Born in the first light of the morning [moswara’marapo]this is the title of the exhibition, presents a large corpus of works and new productions of the South African artist, placing the visitor within different historical references and geographical contexts. The exhibition project intends to explore themes and subjects at the center of her art: from the relationships between ritual, spirituality and nature, to reflections on traditional healing practices and forms of political resistance.

The work of Dineo Seshee Bopape (Polokwane, South Africa, 1981; lives and works in Johannesburg) is characterized by the use of organic materials and strongly symbolic that refer to memory concepts, identity And membership. There Earth it is one of the most recurring elements of his language, which mixed and worked with coal, ash, clay, gives life to environmental installations. Starting from his own experience linked to his country of origin, the South Africathe artist weaves narratives that investigate archetypes and mythologies in which the female figure takes on a central role. Combining digital and analog aesthetics, his work incorporates different mediasuch as sculpture, drawing, video and sound, in one poetic approach which finds its origins in matter.

Personals by Dineo Seshee Bopape were held in several international institutions, including the Institute for Contemporary Art at Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond (2021); Kunsthalle Bielefeld, Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art, Rotterdam, Darling Foundry, Montreal (2017); Art in General, New York, Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2016); Hayward Gallery Project Space, London (2015); August House, Johannesburg (2014).

In 2019 she was among the artists to represent South Africa at the 58. Venice Biennale. She was awarded the Artes Mundi Prize in 2021, the Future Generation Prize and the Sharjah Biennial 13 Prize in 2017.

The exhibition in Pirelli HangarBicocca is accompanied by the first monograph dedicated to the artistwhich contains critical contributions from international art historians and theorists, as well as extensive documentation of the exhibition project.

For info:

Image: Dineo Seshee Bopape, Untitled (of Occult Instability) [Feelings] (2016 – 2018; installation view, 10th Berlin Biennale, KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin, 2018). Courtesy of the artist and Jabu Arnell, Mo Laudi, Robert Rhee and Sfeir-Semler Gallery, Hamburg / Beirut. Photo by Timo Ohler.