Artists: Moshekwa Langa, Viviane Sassen, Portia Zvavahera
Organized by: Andrew Kreps Gallery and Stevenson
Venue: Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York, US
Date: October 25 – December 20, 2019
Photography: all images copyright and courtesy of the artists and Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York
Andrew Kreps Gallery and Stevenson are pleased to present an exhibition of new works by Moshekwa Langa, Viviane Sassen, and Portia Zvavahera at 55 Walker Street.
Organized in partnership by the two galleries, the exhibition seeks to explore new collaborative models between galleries and investigate the ways in which regional practices can function beyond geographic borders, and resonate beyond their primary context. For the exhibition, the galleries have selected three artists from Stevenson’s program, Langa, Sassen, and Zvavahera, whose distinct practices are united by explorations of memory, the subconscious, and spirituality.
Moshekwa Langa (b. 1975) presents recent large-scale works on paper, which represent an ongoing psycho-geographic mapping project. The works’ intensively layered surfaces are named for significant places, events, and figures in the artist’s life. Belonging to his series Love Letters, Langa collages paper in the works in the exhibition to create tapestries of delicate inscriptions. In 2018, Langa’s work was included in We Don’t Need Another Hero, 10th Berlin Biennale, Germany, and The Red Hour, The 13th Dakar Biennale, Senegal. Solo exhibitions of Langa’s work have been presented at venues that include Kunsthalle Bern, Switzerland, Modern Art Oxford, United Kingdom, The Rennaissance Society, Chicago, Krannert Art Museum, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, among others.
Viviane Sassen (b. 1972) presents a group of works originally created for the exhibition Versailles – Visible/Invisible at the estate of Trianon, Château de Versailles. Using the palace grounds as material, Sassen lends a dimension of historicism to her abstracted photographic language. The gilded backdrops and marble crevices emphasize the ambiguities in Sassen’s interventions with ink and paint, which first appeared in 2017. A survey of Sassen’s work titled Hot Mirror, originated at the Hepworth Wakefield, Wakefield, UK in 2018, and travelled to Musée Des Beaux-Arts, Le Locle in 2019. Other solo exhibitions include Deichtorhallen in Hamburg, 2017, and ICA London, 2015. Sassen additionally participated in The Encyclopedic Palace, curated by Massimiliano Gioni at the 55th Venice Biennale, 2013.
For the exhibition, Portia Zvavahera (b. 1985) has created new works related to her recent exhibition Talitha Cumi (an Aramaic phrase meaning ‘Little girl, arise’), which express her dreams and spiritual processes. Zvavahera’s figures appear both spectral and exuberant, rendered in vivid color. Often surrounded, obscured, by radiating lines and crocheted patterns, these delicately composed, expressive gestures suggest protective veils, which serve to both embrace and elevate. Zvavahera participated in We Don’t Need Another Hero, 10th Berlin Biennale, Germany. She represented Zimbabwe at the 55th Venice Biennale in 2013 as part of the exhibition Dudziro: Interrogating the Visions of Religious Beliefs at the Zimbabwean Pavilion, and has additionally participated in group exhibitions at venues including the Garage Museum of Contemporary Art, Moscow, and Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minnesota, among others.
Stevenson has spaces in Cape Town and Johannesburg, with an office in Amsterdam. Founded in 2003, the gallery has an international exhibition program with a particular focus on the region. It is jointly owned by its 11 directors.
This exhibition is Andrew Kreps Gallery’s first at 55 Walker, an exhibition space jointly operated by Bortolami, kaufmann repetto, and Andrew Kreps Gallery. 55 Walker is open Tuesday – Saturday from 10 am – 6 pm.
Moshekwa Langa, Viviane Sassen, Portia Zvavahera, 2019, exhibition view, image courtesy of the Artist and Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York Photo: Dawn Blackman
Moshekwa Langa, Viviane Sassen, Portia Zvavahera, 2019, exhibition view, image courtesy of the Artist and Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York Photo: Dawn Blackman
Moshekwa Langa, Viviane Sassen, Portia Zvavahera, 2019, exhibition view, image courtesy of the Artist and Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York Photo: Dawn Blackman
Moshekwa Langa, Viviane Sassen, Portia Zvavahera, 2019, exhibition view, image courtesy of the Artist and Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York Photo: Dawn Blackman
Moshekwa Langa, Viviane Sassen, Portia Zvavahera, 2019, exhibition view, image courtesy of the Artist and Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York Photo: Dawn Blackman
Moshekwa Langa, Viviane Sassen, Portia Zvavahera, 2019, exhibition view, image courtesy of the Artist and Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York Photo: Dawn Blackman
Moshekwa Langa, Viviane Sassen, Portia Zvavahera, 2019, exhibition view, image courtesy of the Artist and Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York Photo: Dawn Blackman
Moshekwa Langa, The Love Letter V (Seanego), 2019, Mixed media on paper, 63 5/8 x 47 5/8 in (161.5 x 121 cm), image courtesy of the Artist and Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York
Moshekwa Langa, The Love Letter VI (Konyana), 2019, Mixed media on paper, 63 5/8 x 47 5/8 in (161.5 x 121 cm), image courtesy of the Artist and Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York
Moshekwa Langa, The Love Letter VII (Kekana), 2019, Mixed media on paper, 63 5/8 x 47 5/8 in (161.5 x 121 cm), image courtesy of the Artist and Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York
Moshekwa Langa, The Love Letter VIII (Letupu), 2019, Mixed media on paper, 63 5/8 x 47 5/8 in (161.5 x 121 cm), image courtesy of the Artist and Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York
Moshekwa Langa, The Love Letter IX (Mamabolo), 2019, Mixed media on paper, 63 5/8 x 47 5/8 in (161.5 x 121 cm), image courtesy of the Artist and Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York
Moshekwa Langa, The Love Letter X (Bhayed), 2019, Mixed media on paper, 63 5/8 x 47 5/8 in (161.5 x 121 cm), image courtesy of the Artist and Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York
Portia Zvavahera, Tawana mhinduro, 2019, Oil-based printing ink and oil bar on canvas, 84 1/4 x 87 3/8 in (214 x 222 cm), image courtesy of the Artist and Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York
Portia Zvavahera, I found the answer, 2019, Oil-based printing ink and oil bar on canvas, 68 7/8 x 83 7/8 in (175 x 213 cm), image courtesy of the Artist and Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York
Portia Zvavahera, Ndakaitwei?, 2019, Oil-based printing ink and oil bar on canvas, 79 1/2 x 44 7/8 in (202 x 114 cm), image courtesy of the Artist and Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York
Portia Zvavahera, Arising from the Unknown, 2019, Oil-based printing ink and oil bar on canvas, 77 15/16 x 58 11/16 in (198 x 149 cm), image courtesy of the Artist and Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York
Viviane Sassen, Gladiateur Mourant, 2019, Pigment print on Luster, posca paint, 38 3/8 x 47 1/16 in (97.5 x 119.5 cm), image courtesy of the Artist and Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York
Viviane Sassen, La Voisin, 2019, Pigment print on Luster, lacquer, 51 3/16 x 39 3/8 in (130 x 100 cm), image courtesy of the Artist and Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York
Viviane Sassen, Leïla & Blanche, 2019, Pigment print on Luster, Posca paint, 46 1/16 x 35 7/16 in (117 x 90 cm), image courtesy of the Artist and Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York
Viviane Sassen, Phaedrus, 2019, Archival pigment print on Canson Rag matte art paper, 78 3/4 x 59 1/16 in (200 x 150 cm), image courtesy of the Artist and Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York
Viviane Sassen, Menhir, 2019, Archival pigment print on Canson Rag matte art paper, 78 3/4 x 59 1/16 in (200 x 150 cm), image courtesy of the Artist and Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York
Viviane Sassen, The Old Centaur, 2019, Archival pigment print on Canson Rag matte art paper, 23 5/8 x 15 3/4 in (60 x 40 cm), image courtesy of the Artist and Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York