Student work (2008-2010)

The following is a series of works done during my years as a student at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University - School of Music Art and Design. It is not organised in a chronological format

Self-Potrait (2010)

Mixed media drawing on board

Untitled (2008)

Ceramic

Landscaped Body (2010)

Digital print on archival paper

Untitled (2008)

Ceramic

Model Unknown (2010)

Digital Print on archival paper

Sibanye (2012)

Sibanye (2012)

This was a collaborative project between myself and Gabriel Chaponda who did the photography and illustration work while I was responsible for conceptualisation of the project. Sibanye is a public art commission which lies on the Route67 Art’s Journey in Nelson Mandela Bay, a tourist attraction along the inner city of Port Elizabeth and is situated at the ArtEC Gallery in Bird Street, Central. The proposal entailed painting 67 (sixty seven) square portraits of individuals who are either residents of, or employed, in the CBD to signify the 67 (sixty seven) years of freedom fighting Nelson Mandela did for the emancipation of all the citizens of the Republic of South Africa.

Appearances, Phenomena, Reality (2009)

Appearances, Phenomena, Reality (2009)

Appearances, Phenomena, Reality was born out of the desire to reveal society's macabre relationship with objects of material nature, primarily objects created for aesthetic purposes and intent purely to feed our insatiable desire for beauty outside of the natural.

The inspiration lies very strongly architecture, for the awe it inspires in us by the use of scale, traits which are also expressed in the sublime qualities of nature.  

Daddy's Lap (2012)

DADDY’S LAP (2012)

Metaphorically, the home is a blanket to shield us from the harshness of the raw world. However, in many cases the home is not a place of solice, comfort and warmth. This discomfort is often perpetuated by the male figure in the environment. Daddy's Lap aims to question the misguided assumption of the home as a place of safety under the broader context of a curated exhibition titled Home // an experiment, by Uthando Baduza. “Which seeks to destabilize the seemingly finite construct of ‘home’ as a ‘structure/objects’ but propel us to imagine a more fluid, unstable notion that is made and re-made – a constant state of flux by the ‘people/things’ that inhabit/outside its domain. How are [gender, political, economic, etc.] ideologies and the home are mobilized by the state (and other actors) during periods of economic uncertainty and national reconstruction/transformation.[1]”

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[1] B. Murrillo, “Ideal Homes and the Gender Politics and Consumerism in Post Colonial Ghana 1960-70s” Gender and History, Vol 21 No. 3 (November 2009), pp 560-575 (adapted)

Biography

I have worked as a gallery manager, curator, with public art commissions and seminal curated exhibitions under my belt.

I am passionate about developing ways of making art more accessible to the greater community at large and not focusing too much on production of art for commercial and/or art elites.

Bongani Njalo is a Fine Arts graduate who majored in Stained Glass from the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (former PE Technikon). Prior to his graduation he was employed as an intern for the Mandela Bay Development Agency where he was tasked with the compilation of the Art & Artists of the Eastern Cape book which entailed the co-ordination and liason of over 200 artists of this region. Further to this, Bongani was also responsible for Curation of the 2011 Grahamstown National Arts Festival exhibition which was a culmination of the works of these Artists. His work in this position lead him to the newly created position of the newly revamped Port Elizabeth Athenaeum's Administration and Marketing Coordinator, a building the city as well as the Mandela Bay Development Agency entrusted him with after their extensive R3 Million renovations to the site. During his tenure in this position, Bongani also continued with his creative pursuits after hours and was successfully commissioned to complete two impressive works on the Nelson Mandela Bay's Route 67 Arts Journey - a public art route within the inner city of Port Elizabeth.

After participating in the 'Home//an experiment' exhibition curated by Uthando Baduza for the NAF Fringe 2012, where his work was highly lauded as visceral and groundbreaking, he chose to challenge his strengths as an Artist and Arts Administrator by departing his home town of Port Elizabeth in search of greener pastures, this road lead him to Johannesburg. Soon after the young artists' arrival in Gauteng, he was employed as Projects Assistant for the Market Photo Workshop in Newtown, Johannesburg where he continues to work. In South Africa he is represented by the State of the Art online gallery where he serves on the curatorial panel for which he has curated virtual online exhibitions and has recently snapped up by the newly established Leonandi Contemporary Gallery in France. Bongani continues to create work in his personal capacity whilst working for the MPW and is currently participating in the 12 Decades Johannesburg Art Hotel exchange programme for which he will launch a permanent work of art for the hotel's collection.

Bongani equally enjoys partaking in exhibitions as a curator and an artist and has been invited to the following shows in both respects: -

*The exclusive Fashion & Art charity benefit in aid of The SA Medical and Education Foundation in association with Gavin Rajah - Cape Town Audi Centre (2010) where his contribution to the show was sold out.

*Invited to curate the Beehive exhibition for the Cape Town Month of Photography Triennial Festival 2012 at the Castle of Good Hope

*In 2012, he was invited to participate in the Art for Everyone Contemporary South African Art Auction by the Auction Inc. company which took place at the Sibisi Gallery in Johannesburg.

*In March 2013, Bongani completed his first residency at the 12 Decades Hotel in Johannesburg.