Dr Esther Mahlangu has secured a solo art show in Paris at the Almine Rech Galerie – The stunning artworks celebrate her heritage, and just in time for her 86th birthday too!
Paris, France (02 November 2021) – Dr Esther Mahlangu is a South African artist from the Ndebele nation and best known for her bold, large-scale contemporary paintings that reference her Ndebele heritage.
Dr Mahlangu was born on 11 November 1935 in Middelburg, Mpumalanga, South Africa, and belongs to the South Ndebele people. Mahlangu began painting at ten years of age and was taught the skill of mural painting by her mother and grandmother, following a tradition of her native South Ndebele people for females to paint the exterior of houses. It is in this cultural tradition where Mahlangu began her artistic journey.
“I would continue to paint on the house when they left for a break, when they came back they would say: what have you done child? Never do that again! After that, I started drawing on the back of the house, and slowly my drawings got better and better until they finally asked me to come back to the front of the house. Then I knew I was good at painting”
Mahlangu’s art references are found in the clothing and jewellery of the Ndebele people. The patterns she uses are typically very colourful and geometric. Her paintings are large in scale.
The Melrose Gallery presents ‘Esther Mahlangu – Sacred Geometry’ with Almine Rech Galerie in Paris. The solo launches on 20 November and runs until 11 December 2021.
In 1991 she became the first lady and first African to participate in the BMW Art Car Collection alongside other notables of the likes of Andy Warhol, David Hockney, Roy Lichtenstein and Frank Stella.
Many leading museums, private collectors and corporates have also acquired her works, including the Smithsonian Institute, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, National Museum of Woman in the Arts, Centre Georges Pompidou, Museum Bochum, Musee des Beaux-Arts, Iziko South African National Gallery, Pretoria Art Museum, Jean Pigozzi, the Sovereign Art Foundation and the World Bank amongst numerous others who understand her invaluable contribution to contemporary art.
You can see a few of Dr Esther’s stunning works here.
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