Zanele Montle’s exhibition Belonging, offers opportunity for those looking to start art collection
By Edward Tsumele, CITYLIFE/ARTS Editor
At face value the body of work that has been created by visual artist, young painter Zanele Montle looks like a depiction of ordinary people in a rural setting, going on about their ordinary rural chores, such as being seated still, seeming to contemplate their future in an environment that lacks the basic amenities us towns folk take for granted.
There is even one image of seemingly recently and perhaps, hand-washed clothes hanging haphazardly on a clothing line to dry. They even look uneven the way that they are hanging, seeming to suggest that the person who hung them must have been tired to take care about how she hangs them, to make sure that at least there is some discernible pattern put into how they look to the eye. We do not just hand clothes without consideration to the aesthetic look and feel, do we? But there is something that looks unique about these clothes as they look like well designed top of range designs from an established brand. They seem to be out of place in this seemingly rural setting.
The reality is these images of mainly human figures of ordinary people, go deeper than the depiction of the ordinariness of rural folk somewhere in a remote part of the South African landscape. For one the figures are very colourful, painted in different colours, ranging from blue, purple, pink, white to black. In fact very dark colours. In fact all the faces are black so that you cannot even see the other prominent features, often associated with a human figure, such as eyes.
Welcome to Montle’s solo exhibition, which opened at the Shades, 54 Valley Road in Parktown, Johannesburg, on Saturday, October 2, 2021.
The exhibition titled Belonging, which attracted a mainly youngish crowd, drawing enough attention of the guests’ gaze onto the walls of this beautiful space amid enjoying beverages, where the 16 pictures hung, is the product of Montle’s residency at August House Artist Studios in central Johannesburg. Montle got this opportunity to work on this body of work after winning the inaugural Womxn to Watch Award for emerging artists.
This body of work comprises beautiful art projects that could easily hang in someone’s dinning room, as they are easy to the eye, tasteful to look at and admire even.
But do not be fooled. These images carry quite a deep message about the complex issue of identity and positionality, especially in a fractured society like South Africa ,with so many inequalities at different levels.
For example, there are inequalities existing between white and black folks. That is obviously easy to notice. But there are other inequalities that are not that obvious, such as inequalities in terms of access to resources that exist between urban folk and rural folk, irrespective of colour. There are also inequalities that are found between townships and suburbs, and one could go on and on. But for the saek of this exhibition, let us confine ourselves to the issue of the rural folk.
“Although my work initially was based primarily on probing family set ups, I have since expanded the scope of my inquiry to look at the whole issue of identity. That was necessitated by the unrest that engulfed the country in July when looting took place. For example, some people described the action that those involved took as looting, whereas others looked deeper, beyond the action into the whole issue of inequality and the position one place themselves in society.
For example the question becomes who took what belonged to who? The issue is not as straight forward as it looks at face value, and the answers are not easy either, as this is all about identity and one’s position in life,” Montle told me during the opening of Identity.
Essentially in this solo show, Montle explores concepts of belonging. She is interested in how we relate to the people around us and is looking at how different environments play a role in shaping our identity and our sense of belonging.
Montle’s style speaks to her interest in the familial. The striking use of flatness and primary colours while situating the characters in domestic or social contexts suggests a familiarity and an ordinariness. The anonymity of the figures provides the viewer with the possibility to imagine themselves or their loved ones in the artist’s figures making them all the more intimate.
Montle is originally from Empangeni, KZN. She holds a National Diploma in Visual Arts from the University of Johannesburg and a BTech from Tshwane University of Technology..
Montle’s work was included in the Thami Mnyele top 100 exhibition in 2015. She currently works as an art educator and painter..
Belonging is a body of work, which would suit those without deep pockets, especially those who would like to start their collection by having some beautiful art objects that can nicely hang in your dining room to give it that necessary light. And the good news is that you do not have to break the bank to acquire these works.
.Belonging is currently on at the Shades, 54 Valley Road, Parktown, Johannesburg..