South African Artist Simphiwe Nduzube's Work On Display At Denver Art Museum
DENVER (CBS4) - As the United States grapples with a racial reckoning, a South African artist is using his work to express his feelings about a post-apartheid world. This summer the Denver Art Museum is hosting an exhibit from Simphiwe Nduzube called "Oracles of the Pink Universe."
"The artwork is a relationship between sculpture and painting, color, texture, fashion," Nduzube told CBS4.
Nduzube's work is large scale, and full of powerful and surreal scenes and characters born out of apartheid South Africa.
"It gave me a platform to really tap into what is most fundamental, I feel for me, which is imagination," Nduzube said.
This is Nduzube's first ever solo museum exhibition in the United States.
"To have my first museum show outside of my country, it puts a beautiful stamp into saying that 'Continue, people are excited to enjoy the work,'" Nduzube explained.
The Denver Art Museum is so excited about his work, they have acquired two of his pieces. Nduzube says that he is proud that his work will live on for generations to come.
"It feels incredible. It feels validated. Even if some of the stuff I have at home, like you know, the sun burns them, and they don't survive longer, but at least there's two that are really good that are taken care of," he said.
The work pushes boundaries, and addresses difficult themes with color and fantasy. It's most impressive when experienced in person.
"To have people experience something new and they are feeling like they are, maybe, more closer to their feelings and it's, maybe possibly, the first visit to a museum in a long time, it's exciting for me," he said.
"Oracles of the Pink Universe" runs through Oct. 10 in the Hamilton Building. The exhibit is included in a general admission ticket. On June 30th from 6 p.m. – 7 p-m, DAM is hosting a Virtual Studio Visit with artist Simphiwe Nduzube and Laura Almeida.
LINK: For Tickets & Information about "Oracles of the Pink Universe" by Simphiwe Nduzube
