Billie Zangewa (Malawian, Born 1973) Angel, 2016
Provenance : [Timeline chronologique]
2016-01-01 | Acquired from Afronova gallery, 2016; A private collection
[Propriété non datée]
- Residing in Johannesburg, Billie Zangewa incorporates her love of materiality and fashion into her oeuvre creating highly aesthetic and structurally considered pieces
- Initially creating dramatically decorated handbags after completing a graphic design and printmaking degree at Rhodes University in South Africa, Zangewa would develop, dissect her technique and work to present us with the exquisitely constructed tapestries that we see in the present lot, Angel
- Instead of beginning with a purely aesthetic idea, Zangewa now begins her work, motivated by self-reflection, using her medium as the narrator to communicate a feeling or experience personal to her identity
- Her approach entails the layering and stitching of silk of varying colours, creating the illusion of three-dimensional images personifying and domesticising emotive scenes
- Beginning with photography, Zangewa then creates paper stencils which she lays onto the silk, the artist then cuts and hand stitches the silk layers onto one another
- These tapestries, informed by her observation of skyscrapers window glass in the central business district, are given a flowing freedom due to the reflective nature of the silk fabric
- Unable to buy full metres of silk, her tapestries, often uneven, irregular, and raw due to her acquiring them as scraps, only contribute to the overall aesthetic of her work and accentuates its materiality. 'My creativity comes from lack – I had to work from scratch
- I would never have discovered the technique if I'd been able to buy huge swathes of fabric.' (Billie Zangewa quoted in Ansie Van Der Walt, 'Silk Narratives: the artistic journey of Billie Zangewa', Mr x stitch, changing the way you think about embroidery, (online article))
- Currently on show at the Barbican Centre in London, Billie Zangewa has further exhibited her work in Brussels, New York, Spain, France, Norway, California, Switzerland, North Carolina, Brighton, New Mexico, Seoul and San Francisco
- She has also been exhibited at Frieze, the annual FNB JoburgArtFair and 1:54 art fairs
- Her extensive exhibition history is testament to her unique and exquisitely executed work, marking her as one of the most exciting current Contemporary African Artists
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