Galerie Ron Mandos Represented at the Armory Show

From March 8 to 11 the Armory Show features works by Galerie Ron Mandos artist Mohau Modisakeng. His ‘Zion’ series contains powerful footage, both in terms of aesthetics and political meaning. Modisakeng’s work will be on display at Pier 94, Booth 621. 

‘Zion’ was also part of last year’s Performa 17 in New York City. During Performa the artist choreographed a street procession of a group of twenty performers through known public spaces, which historically relate to the city’s African-American communities. The performers represented individuals in the process of relocating, carrying an array of personal possessions, baggage, and furniture. They moved from one place to settle elsewhere, as if driven by invisible forces against their will.

With this project Modisakeng draws parallels between experiences of displacement within the context of South Africa’s history of racial segregation and forced removals with the current global climate of mass migration. The work focuses on visualizing the universal anxiety caused by the resurgence of racist policy and rhetoric in parts of Europe and the United States. At the Armory Show 2018, Galerie Ron Mandos presents a three-channel video installation and photographic work from the new ‘Zion’ series.

Mohau Modisakeng

Material, metaphor, and the black body are the tools that Mohau Modisakeng uses to explore the influence of South Africa’s violent history that has been ignored in today’s society. His series ‘Zion’ relates to how we understand our cultural, political, and social roles as human beings in post-colonial Africa and in particular post-apartheid South Africa

Represented through film, large-scale photographic prints, installations, and performances, his “work doesn’t start off with an attempt to portray violence but it becomes mesmerizing because although we might recognize history as our past, the body is indifferent to social changes, so it remembers.”

Born in Soweto, an epicenter of black urbanity and cosmopolitan culture, the multi-award winning Mohau Modisakeng is a product of Cape Town’s Michaelis School of Fine Art. Mentored by Jane Alexander and predominantly working and training in sculpture, he completed his undergraduate degree in 2009 then completed his Master’s degree at the same institution. He was awarded the SASOL New Signatures Award for 2011 and has exhibited at Armory Show, New York (2016); Saatchi Gallery, London (2012); Dak’Art Biennale, Dakar (2012); Focus 11 and Basel (2011). 

Galerie Ron Mandos

Founded in 1999, Galerie Ron Mandos has developed an ever more ambitious exposition program in the last two decades. Its spacious location in the Amsterdam gallery district functions as a platform for cutting-edge contemporary art exhibitions. New and dynamic ways of artistic expression are continuously sought. Alongside the solo-shows and site-specific installations by internationally established artist Ron Mandos has a special focus on up and coming emerging artists.

Ron Mandos is a leading figure in the Dutch art world, with close connections to a plethora of national and international museums and collections. The gallery showcases performances as well as the development of trends, and Ron Mandos is frequently asked to be part of committees and juries. Galerie Ron Mandos was nominated in 2016 by AICA (International Association of Art Critics). This award nominates institutions that have distinguished themselves with exceptional, remarkable and accessible programming or policy in the preceding three years.

The Armory Show

The Armory Show is New York City’s premier art fair and a leading cultural destination for discovering and collecting the world’s most important 20th- and 21st-century art. Staged on Piers 92 & 94, the Armory Show features presentations by over 200 leading international galleries, innovative artist commissions, and dynamic public programs. Since its founding in 1994, The Armory Show has served as a nexus for the art world, inspiring dialogue, discovery and patronage in the visual arts.

The Armory Show was founded by four New York gallerists – Colin de Land, Pat Hearn, Matthew Marks and Paul Morris – who sought a platform to present and promote new voices in the visual arts. In its 24 years, the Armory Show has stayed firm to its mission while establishing itself as an unmissable art event set in the heart of New York City and welcoming over 65,000 visitors annually.