5th Nov, 2020 19:00
Aspire X PLP | African Photography Auction 2020
30
Obakeng Molepe (South Africa 1994-)
2nd Self (from the Ferry series)
giclée print on Hahnemühle
Artwork date: 2019
Signature details: accompanied by a certificate of authenticity signed by the artist
Edition: number 1 from an edition of 5 + 1AP
giclée print on Hahnemühle
Artwork date: 2019
Signature details: accompanied by a certificate of authenticity signed by the artist
Edition: number 1 from an edition of 5 + 1AP
(1)
image size: 84 x 59.5 cm, sheet size: 84.5 x 60 cm, unframed
Notes:
Obakeng Molepe is a visual artist based in Johannesburg, South Africa. He studied at Vega School, where his practice was enhanced by both a theoreticaland technical approach to the medium of photography. Technology has been a keyinfluence on his practice, and his precise craftsmanship and personal connection to his subjects result in a powerful body of work on contemporary post-apartheidSouth Africa. Molepe’s work has been featured in Desundo, The British Journal of Photography, Vogue, and Oath – a publication dedicated to contemporary African photography. In 2017, he was selected for the Sasol New Signatures Art Competition at the Pretoria Art Museum. Commercially, he works with international and national clients like Adidas, Levi's, Visi, Superbalist and Daily Maverick. Molepe was commissionedby Marvel to work on a Black Panther project in collaboration with Trevor Stuurman, which was exhibited in Maboneng, Johannesburg. He was also commissioned to work on the SAB’s #NoExcuse campaign to protest gender-based violence. Common themes in Molepe’s work are dialogues around identity, mental health, and masculinity. The townships in Johannesburg are an important part ofhis practice – not only as a place of inspiration and creation for his photographic work, but also a space of o"ering to give back to his community. He spearheads an initiative, Ntwana Kasi, a creative platform for youth. Both works on auction are from Molepe’s series Ferry, a visual journey representing mental health – alluding to being in-between thoughts, a mind that is never on land, always between two worlds. Where yes and no are the same answers; where everything makes sense, but nothing makes sense. "Ferry speaks to the romanticism of mental health in our generation. There’s so much happening, and I believe we are failing to keep up with time and innovation. The motion-blur approach suggests my generation’s indecisiveness, how a generation can have everything yet still have a rising suicide rate." "I used 3D lenticular printing for a textured oil painting finish, to bring the images to life and convey the hyper-reality of being 'stuck in your own head'. The viewer may experience my o"ered perspective of a distorted reality - a type of mentalstate that is both singular and comfortingly universal."
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Auction: Aspire X PLP | African Photography Auction 2020, 5th Nov, 2020
A collection of pan-African works, straddling the terrain between historical and contemporary photography, were auctioned to support the digitisation of African photographic legacies by the Photography Legacy Project (PLP). Bidders participated from across Europe, the USA and UK, Asia, Australia and Africa – a testament to Aspire’s increasing global reach and collectors’ enthusiasm for African photography.
The auction included photographic luminaries such as David Goldblatt, Alf Kumalo, G.R. Naidoo, Ranjith Kally and Ian Berry, as well as more contemporary internationally acclaimed photographers like Guy Tillim, Jo Ractliffe, Syowia Kyambi and Mikhael Subotzky. The lead lot, a portfolio of 12 silver gelatin prints from the legendary photographer Ernest Cole’s seminal 1967 book House of Bondage sold for an astounding R569,000 – a new world auction record.
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