Ayanda Mabulu
B. 1981, – Eastern Cape, South Africa
Ayanda Mabulu is a self-taught artist whose work focuses on social upheavals and matters affecting the politics of the black body. He currently lives and works in Jo- hannesburg.
Mabulu is best known for using hyper-realistic imagery in his paintings and sculptures to depict and juxtapose powerful leaders, masters, and mistresses with common African traditional people. Tackling the issues of inequality through his experiences in South African society, especially those that set the black body as an area where violence occurs, Mabulu is an internationally recognized South African artist. The discourse of power, culture, and identity arranged in narrative sequences that fur- ther exaggerate the already grotesque history of exploitation and its inheritance in postcolonial African states. Mabulu’s narrative is exhibited daily in the minds of his people and dances on their tongues during conversations that seek to rebuild the global African community.
Mabulu is an established artist with an almost cult-like following of artists, activists and writers. Whilst exhibiting in private and public institutions around the world, Mabulu’s thought-provoking and critically acclaimed works are often covered by the New York Times, BBC, and Al Jazeera to name a few. Mabulu’s work is highly col- lected internationally by influential museums, galleries, diplomats, business people and celebrities alike.
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