In "Coach Wendy Zindela, fingerprint," Sabelo Mlangeni uses black and white photography to capture an intimate portrait of a woman on the beach, her hair tied up, overlaid with a fingerprint pattern. The composition blends human presence with symbolic identity, suggesting introspection and individuality within a communal setting. The use of monochrome emphasizes texture and emotion, characteristic of Mlangeni's style. Created with a focus on community and personal narratives, the piece invites reflection on the hidden beauty and ordinariness of daily life, exemplifying Mlangeni's dedication to storytelling through extraordinary simplicity. ...
Working largely in black and white format, Sabelo Mlangeni has built his practice around intimate photographs that draw out the inherent beauty in the ordinary. Mlangeni is driven by his interest in the notions of community and communing where a central part of his process requires him to spend significant time —weeks, months, sometimes years—with those he chooses to photograph; sharing intimately in their thoughts, feelings, stories and everyday lives. His practice is a continuous survey of the most challenging, beautiful and confounding aspects of the human experience.
“I have been moving around Johannesburg and its closest suburbs as someone interested in story-telling about everyday life. In my early walks, I found myself in many spaces where the situation and the living conditions were impossible to look at and to photograph. Then I started wondering, what to frame? Soon another side of the hardships emerged, and I attempted to capture that hidden beauty, that ordinary peace.” - Mlangeni ...
Based in a 360 sqm gallery in Woodstock, Cape Town, blank was founded by Jonathan Garnham as a project space in 2005 and transitioned into a commercial gallery during 2012. The gallery represents emerging and increasingly established artists from the region in a critically engaged programme that emphasises contemporaneity, with a focus on concept and abstraction in the African context. With an exhibition programme that has a reputation for shaping the discourse around contemporary art in South(ern) Africa, and participation in prominent local and international art fairs, we seek to place our artists' work in a wide range of private and institutional collections. In addition, blank continues to promote the visual arts in our community through ongoing projects that support the sector. ...
