Ex Mondeor head boy makes waves in New York

PHUMELELE Tshabalala (30) is an ex Mondeor High head boy and Meredale Primary prefect who is now a visual artist currently living and practicing in New York and Los Angeles.

Phumelele was born on June 17, 1987, in Soweto and raised in a township called Protea North. His parents are Makhosazifna Benedicta Tshabalala who was a manager at Jet Stores and Mpendulo Daniel Tshabalala who served in the SAPS for 20 years. Phumelele emphasized that he attended good schools here in the South and that experience could not outweigh the experience of being raised in a township.

“It was a rich experience because my upbringing taught me how to see the value of life with or without many material possessions. My identity is built on looking at life through this lens while embracing new experiences. During my school days I was a shy young man and expressing myself was difficult until I found art. I found solace in the process of making art. Through drawing, I depicted narratives of my experiences with people and situations within various surroundings,” said Phumelele.

See Phumelele’s work that has featured in The New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/18/nyregion/peekskill-as-canvas-for-artists-near-and-far.html

Now married and living in New York, Phumelele moved to the United States of America with his wife in 2014 in pursuit of their Masters in Fine Arts. He spoke of how he fell in love with art because it gives people a voice. “I could not have known at that time, that my endeavour to create art as a career would lead me to study and building a life in New York City. At first, I pursued my studies in fine and applied arts at Tshwane University of Technology, in Pretoria, specialising in printmaking and painting,” he said.

Phumelele’s love for art grew overseas and he now enjoys investing in others by teaching art. He was blessed with the amazing opportunity of being an art teacher at Pretoria High School for Girls for four years. It was there that he learnt to empower himself by teaching while simultaneously practising.

“It was during this time I realised that getting my masters in visual art seemed a crucial step to take in order further my career. In 2014, I applied for graduate school and miraculously got accepted into a Master’s program in New York at SUNY Purchase College. I was excited when I received my acceptance letter, and could not wait to take this opportunity on. I was encouraged to find that I was the only international student, and the only black student admitted in my year,” explained Phumelele.

Phumelele’s latest body of artworks titled Looking Both Ways was shortlisted for the Artraker Biennial Awards and Art of Peace Exhibition in Malta. I was the poster boy of the exhibition. See more here: https://www.artraker.org/art-of-peace-2017/4586071549

This is a global event that recognises art and artists that make critical contributions to peace around the world. This year’s award ceremony and exhibition were held on March 3 in Valletta, Malta.

The proudly South African artist explained that the journey has not been an easy one. There have been setbacks and he struggled financially to cover living expenses and tuition. Phumelele told the CHRONICLE how he almost did not graduate.

“My fellow artists and colleagues started a GoFundMe, which raised half of my outstanding tuition fees! Their support and efforts in coming together to make sure that I could graduate is an incredible gift to have ever received! They believed in me enough to invest time, effort and money, to ensure that my dream was realised. Today I write to you with an MFA in Visual Art and a progressive practice,” said Phumelele, who graduated last year (2016).

Since graduating, Phumelele has taught as an Adjunct Professor at Purchase College, teaching two major courses in the Printmaking department for undergraduate students. He has been involved in in-class and after school programs in high schools and primary schools around NYC and his practice continues to grow in this contemporary art capital. As an interdisciplinary artist, he creates socio-political figurative work that is primarily concerned with the human condition. He says he is influenced and inspired by a lineage of South African artists who have used art as a weapon to combat political and social atrocities like apartheid.

“I am among the Post-Apartheid South African artists producing works that reconstruct, re-claim, and refine a new collective cultural identity. It has become incredibly important that my work is directly linked to where I am from, and where I currently am. I am looking both ways, using the body as a site of expression and resistance. In some of my works the black body as a signifier and marker deeply rooted in historical narratives that are not easily embraced. These narratives allude to issues linked to gender and race, as well as social injustice. I am committed and dedicated to going beyond mere formal questions of making, preferring to aim straight at the heart of who I am, what is going on around and how do I make a difference. I believe in a conceptually/technically belligerent and educative art for all and not just an expression of individual satisfaction,” he explained.

Recently, one of Phumelele’s prints titled Scattered Liberties has been included in the International Print Centre New York for Summer 2017. Read more here: https://www.ipcny.org/exhibitions/just-under-100/

If you would like to contact Phumelele, then visit his website on https://phumeleletshabalala.com

For free daily local news in the south, visit our sister newspapers Alberton Record, Comaro Chronicle, Southern Courier and Get it Joburg South Magazine.

Remember to visit our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages. You can also email our offices on cvdwalt@caxton.co.za, juliem@caxton.co.za or luckyt@caxton.co.za

Add us on WhatsApp today! Alberton Record: 060 644 5264 Comaro Chronicle: 079 427 8074 and Southern Courier: 079 404 5789.