Lulama Wolf unveils her world in a first solo exhibition in London
Images taken in Antibes at the Villa Fontaine during the Undiscovered Canvas Residency Programme. Photographer: From The Bay.
Lulama Wolf is young, she is South African, and the contemporary art world has been watching her closely for a few years now.
The 28-year-old emerging visual artist has participated in a string of group exhibitions since 2019 in her home country and shortly after in Europe and the United States.
“I Was Born Wrapped In a White Blanket”
The debut solo exhibition featuring Lulama Wolf's latest artworks is thus an auspicious milestone on the path to recognition of her unique work of art. Under the title "Ndizalwe nge ngubo emhlophe" and running from February 4 to March 4, 2022 at London's SoShiro Gallery, the exhibition showcases pieces produced by Wolf while she was completing an art residency in France.
At the invitation of Undiscovered Canvas, Lulama Wolf has spent a month in Antibes, in the south of France. Founded by Nomaza Nongqunga Coupez in 2015 with the aim of promoting young, talented African artists, the art agency works with and represents a fine selection of creative minds.
The underlying narrative of "Ndizalwe nge ngubo emhlophe," which means "I was born wrapped in a white blanket," takes the shape of the contemplation of the origin, the experience of life in utero, the experience of this world and the ties that hold these distinct planes of being together.
This Nguni expression refers to children born while still inside their amniotic sac or entangled in their umbilical cord, and therefore regarded as possessing some special bond with their lineage's ancestors.
SoShiro Gallery
SoShiro Gallery
Wolf's art is highly organic, evocative both in its bold lines and sinuous curves but also in the mediums and techniques she employs.
“My work conveys my soul, before it conveys a message. My intuition plays a fundamental role in the direction I take [...]", she describes.
Influences of Expressionist and African Modern styles merge with a will to convey the potency of the African spirituality in its native simplicity. It is a spirituality which the artist investigates by revisiting, among other things, patterns inspired by architectural and decorative elements of traditional houses.
Wolf's paintings are dreamy cues leading to the quintessential source of life which manifests in the world that surrounds us as we see it. This anchorage into the tangible, into the evidence left behind, is deliberately emphasized through the singular textures, which were created by blending sand with pigments, scraping and smearing multiple layers of paint.
Central to her compositions are anthropomorphic figures which assert the identity of this young Johannesburg-born painter who explains, “The notion of blackness is vital in my work because it is created by a black woman, regardless of the medium or language used [...], even when the work is abstract.”.
Exhibition: "Ndizalwe nge ngubo emhlophe" - I Was Born Wrapped In a White Blanket”
from February 4 to March 4, 2022 at London's SoShiro Gallery