Nicodim Gallery is proud to announce Bhabharosi, the first solo exhibition by Simphiwe Ndzube outside his hometown of Cape Town, South Africa.
Bhabharosi is an invented term given to the protagonist in this current body of paintings and sculpture. It stems from the words “Barbarous” and “Rose,” combined and pronounced in isiXhosa, my home language. A Bhabharosi is one who embodies elements of beauty and hardship, one who has been rejected, disjointed, disfigured, and discarded after being used for his labour. He finds refuge and diversion by defiantly embodying sartorial elements of the Swenkas, the working-class Zulu men who participate in amateur competitions that are part fashion show and part choreography, the purpose of which is to display one’s style and sense of attitude. He has elements of the hero in Amos Tutuola’s The Palm-Wine Drinkard, as well as the fat-bellied Pozzo and his slave, Lucky, from Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot. In Bhabharosi, the fantastical figure emerges, walking precariously on a surreal journey of recovery, finding his voice and feet, moving through patched open landscapes with transitory barricades or signs monitoring where and how far he can go.
You Have Eleven Days to Go See Simphiwe Ndzube Work in Los Angeles
