PHILLEMON HLUNGWANI

(b. 1975, Thomo Village, Limpopo Province, South Africa)

Phillemon Hlungwani is recognised at one of the most accomplished contemporary artists now working in South Africa. Known predominantly for his large-scale charcoal drawings depicting scenes from rural life and formal and informal settlements, his work is rooted deeply in a sense of community and the traditional values that endure there. Many of his recent drawings include proverbs in his first language – xiTsonga – as ­titles. These proverbs are often difficult to translate into English but they communicate an essential moral idea – showing how members of a particular community are either sustaining or betraying the values of the people living there. The people are inseparable from their environment, although his more recent images have introduced colour into the clothing of his protagonists to help them stand out in all their vibrancy and humanity. The scenes he depicts are usually full of motion and life – the characters bursting with thoughts, opinions and yearnings, which are communicated further through the arcs and lines that weave the different parts of each drawing together. Everything is connected. There is no distinction between the internal or the external, the animate or inanimate, the material or the spiritual.

As a boy, Hlungwani used to herd goats and cattle and look after chickens – and this relationship with the animal world is often present in his work. Trees were also a source of shade and food – both for animals and people – as well as providing places for community debates, ceremonies and prayer. Sometimes, as in the work entitled Vutlarhi bya lava kulu ka hina (The Wisdom of the Old People), trees embody and stand for the human – carrying in their roots and leaves and fruit all that has passed beneath them. Hlungwani is suggesting throughout his work that people who live in the simplest places with few possessions can still lead good, dignified lives and remain happy. They may have places to go and things to do, but they know who they are – where they have come from and where they are going.

Phillemon Hlungwani was born in Thomo Village, Giyani, in the Limpopo Province. He attended Thomo Primary School and Hanyani Thomo High School, where he developed his skills under the guidance of his art teacher, motivator and friend Muxe Moses Mthombeni – and Queen Mtileni. Having attained an A for Art in Matric, Hlungwani studied at the Johannesburg Art Foundation before studying printmaking under the mentorship of Kim Berman, the late Nhlahla Xaba and Osiah Masukameng at the Artist Proof Studio. Hlungwani later completed a teacher’s training course in Art at the WITS School of Art. He has since been based at the Artist Proof Studio, where he has facilitated classes, been a unit manager for papermaking and was the coordinator for community outreach and special projects at the studio. He has also worked in a range of advisory and mentoring projects. Sponsored by the prestigious Ampersand Foundation Fellowship, Hlungwani went on an extensive study tour of printmaking studios in the United States. In addition to his drawing and graphic work, Hlungwani has completed and facilitated many wall murals including the mural at the Standard Bank Art Gallery (for the Picasso in Africa exhibition) and the mural for Bell Dewar and Hall. He has also been commissioned by the JDA (Johannesburg Development Agencies), MTN and the South African Governmental offices. Awards include winning the King Korn competition (2000 and 2001) and the SABC Radio Station Munghana Lonene FM Log Design Award (2003). He was also one of the finalists for the Absa Gallery competition in 2001, 2002 and 2009.

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2021    A Wu Xi Tivi Lexi Nga Mbilwini Ya Mani, Everard Read, Franschhoek

2019    Ntsako Wa Xibelani, Everard Read, Johannesburg

2018    Nwansati wa matimba a nga heli mongo, Everard Read, Cape Town

2017    Rirhandzu Ra Manana / the Love of Women, Everard Read Gallery, London

2016     From Giyani to Alexandra, Everard Read Gallery, Johannesburg and Grande Provence Gallery, South Africa

2014     Mi Kondzo Ya Tinghawi/In the Footsteps of Heroes, Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees, South Africa

            Qunu Drawings, Everard Read Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa

2013     Cullinan Drawings sponsoed by Petra Diamonds plc, John Martin Gallery, London, UK

2011     New Works, Everard Read Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
            Solo Exhibition, Knysna Fine Art, Kysna, South Africa

2009     Recent Works, The Irma Stern Museum, Cape Town, South Africa
            Tshungulo wuyisiwa e mahlweni (The Healing Process), Everard Read Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa

2008     Xitsonga I ndzuti wa Xigaza / The Tsonga is the Shadow of Xigaza, ABSA Gallery in Johannesburg,
             South Africa

2006     Recent Works, The Gallery Premises, Braamfontein, Johannesburg, South Africa

2000    First one-man show in Soweto, sponsored by Kaya FM, The Sowetan, Sunday World and Absolut Vodka,
             Soweto, South   Africa

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2021    Spring Show, Everard Read, Johannesburg, South Africa

             Offering, Everard Read, Franschhoek

2020    The Portrait Show, Everard Read, Johannesburg

            Imago, Everard Read, Franschhoek, South Africa

            Staring Straight to the Future, Everard Read Gallery Group Online Exhibition

            TINY, Everard Read, Johannesburg

            Odyssey, Everard Read, Johannesburg

2019    Southern Aspect: A Group Exhibition, Everard Read, London 

2017    Reality Check, Everard Read, Cape Town

            Winter Collection: Group Exhibition, Everard Read, Cape Town

2016     Opening Gallery Exhibition, CIRCA Gallery, London, UK

2015     1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair London, UK

2014     FNB Johannesburg Art Fair, Johannesburg, South Africa

2013    Art 13, London, UK

2012    The 4th Edition of India Modern and Contemporary Art Fair, India Art Fair, India
            The 21st birthday celebration of Artist Proof Studio exhibition, Johannesburg Art Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
            FNB Johannesburg Art Fair, Johannesburg, South Africa

2011    Multiple Views of a Singular Beast, Circa and Everard Read Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
            Art Angels Charity Art Auction

2010    A View from the South, Everard Read Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa

2009     RENDEZVOUS Focus original lithography, an exhibition of more than 100 South African and French artists’ artworks touring and exhibited               in South Africa
            The 50s: An Interpretation, Gallery on the Square, Nelson Mandela Square, South Africa

2008    Knysna Fine Art, Kysna, South Africa
            David Brown Fine Art, Johannesburg, South Africa
            Aspire Contemporary Art Gallery, Pretoria, South Africa
            Gallery on the Square, Nelson Mandela Square, South Africa

2007    Thomson Art Gallery in Melville, South Africa
            SASOL, Rosebank, South Africa

2006    Gallery on the Square, Nelson Mandela Square
            Spark Gallery
            Art on Paper
            UJ former RAU Gallery

2005    Touring exhibition to the Gulf of OMAN Community Art Center, Qatar Hotel, Salala

2003    The Gallery Premises and the Johannesburg Art Gallery

2000    Heritage Day for Arts and Culture Exhibition, Belgium

1997    Polokwane Art Museum, South Africa

COLLECTIONS

Ascot Diamonds

Bell, Dewar and Hall, Johannesburg

Bidvest

BLP Merchandising Solutions

Brait,

Centurion Hotel, Pretoria

Ellerman House, Cape Town

Irma Stern Museum (UCT) , Cape Town

Johannesburg Development Agency

Karoo Hotel outside Cape Town

Medscheme Holdings

MTN print exchange

Nando’s

Nedbank, Johannesburg

Norman Borlaug Institute for International Culture, Texas

Raphael Suites and Michelangelo Towers, Sandton

Rand Merchant Bank Corporate Collection

Sasol Collection

South African Reserve Bank

Standard Bank Art Gallery, Johannesburg

UNISA Art Collection

Vodacom