The exhibition is the first large scale presentation of Nicholas Hlobo’s work in Scandinavia. It shows Hlobo’s use of sculpture, installation, performance and drawings to investigate a variety of subjects such as sexual identity, cultural difference and contemporary politics. It offers an insight to international sculptural practice and the artist’s Xhosa cultural roots, and his South African heritage.
His work combines many different and recycled materials such as the rubber inner tubes of car tyres, coloured ribbon, fabric, latex, silicone and wood. They display a great dexterity in their making and vary in size, from small objects you can hold in your hand, to large room installations. Hlobo’s work can be understood as a
bridge between his local cultural perceptions and those of the global art world. It invites us to read the world through his visual play with materials and through the poetry of his titles.
Hlobo’s work is positioned between his umxhosa tradition and the new South African democratic reality. To underline the need for cultural translation in contemporary art, Hlobo titles all his work in his mother tongue isiXhosa. Sculptures, installations and drawings become a knowledge resource for viewers about the past and the present. His performances move between the sacred and the profane, between present and past traditions. They weave together the real and the supernatural and ask questions about the morality of tradition.
