Art Exhibitions

2 November 2024

In this striking
continuation of his previous explorations, Nyokong delves deeper into the complex relationships
between African and Western cultures, using scale, material, and subject matter to challenge and
provoke.
Nyokong’s work in “confrontations” is a personal interpretation of Western painting traditions and
African sculptural heritage. He addresses the often fraught history between the two cultures, focusing
on the impact of ethnology and the anthropological gaze that has historically framed Africa through
Western lenses. Central to this body of work is a critique of the ongoing capture of African cultural
artifacts by Western museums and the persistent resistance to their repatriation.
Nyokong reflects:
“These new paintings are a continuation of my personal interpretation of traditions associated with
forms of Western painting and antique African sculpture as canonized throughout history. In this
current body of work too, the preoccupation persists on my implication of the role of both ethnology
and the wider anthropological gaze on Africa, and their bestowed fraught contemporary relations
between cultures of the West and Africa, signified by and large through the capture of African cultural
art objects by Western museums, and the ensuing resistance against repatriation of said objects.”
Through the collective title “confrontations”, Nyokong gestures towards a growing restlessness and a
potential sense of hostilities between the cultural gatekeepers of the West and the indigenous
societies whose heritage remains captive. These works draw inspiration from historical movements
where art and culture served not just as propaganda, but as objects in ideological wars, infusing his
paintings with an irony-laden and satirical tone.
Nyokong’s treatment of the subject is enriched by references to literary, cinematic, and theatrical
traditions, imagining African tribal sculptures and ritual objects as actors in a pseudo-farcical,
cinematic setting. His oil paintings become a device to trace historical episodes of conquest and
resistance, creating allegorical and magic-realist scenes where traditional tribal motifs interact with
imagined worlds.
“With these works I insist on my deep interest in the potential of painting as a form of processual
recording that I use to instigate conversation between history and present, to see what potentials
might surface from there, what implications crystallize.”
Curatorial notes:
The decision to present the title "confrontations" in lowercase is an intentional artistic choice, subtly
reinforcing the themes explored in Phoka Nyokong's work. Avoiding the conventional capitalization,
signals a few layers of meaning such as de-emphasizing Authority, a refusal to adhere to traditional
hierarchies or authority. In the context of "confrontations", it reflects a deliberate rejection of
dominant Western cultural narratives and systems of control over African art and heritage. The
lowercase approach also mirrors the quiet yet profound tensions explored in Nyokong’s work, a Subtle
Undercurrent of Conflict. These "confrontations" are not loud, overt clashes, but rather simmering,
unspoken tensions between cultures, institutions, and histories.
By breaking from traditional typographical expectations, he mirrors the exhibition's critique of
established norms, encouraging viewers to question not only what is presented but also how it is
framed.

GALLERY MOMO