Lawrence Lemaoana

Lawrence Lemaoana

Born in Johannesburg in 1982. Lives and works in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Lawrence Lemaoana critically engages with mass media in present-day South Africa. Seeing the relationship between media and the ‘people’ as inherently problematic, he identifies and repurposes existing control apparatuses using his trademark cynicism. Lemaoana’s embroidered works are emblazoned with appropriated political dictums woven in kanga fabric – a material with its own complex ancestry. Here, Lemaoana wages criticism on the agency of local media, and its ability to shape social consciousness: the result turns didactic and propagandistic tools on their head.

Sous le Fil, Les abattoirs, Toulouse, Tous des sang-mêlés, Musée d’art Contemporain du Val de Marne (MAC/VAL), Le Jour qui vient, Galerie des Galeries, Paris, Being There, Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris, The Art of Disruptions, Iziko South African National Gallery, Cape Town…

His work features in prominent local and international collections, including Sindika Dokolo Fondation, Luanda, IZIKO South African National Gallery , Cape Town, Louis Vuitton Fondation, Paris, Lafayette Anticipation, Paris…

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