Meleko Mokgosi
Democratic Intuition, Lerato
When
entering the gallery, we are welcomed by a long, wide hallway containing a big
painting on the right. Half of this large piece is text in a language unidentifiable
to the average American. One could find this frustrating, being in country
where we can read practically everything. This seems an intentional move by
Mokgosi, a way to say that we do not know everything.
As
you walk into the main room there is a door opening to the right that you
almost miss seeing. In this small room is a beautifully rendered painting of a
South African woman in a chair surrounded by children latching onto her. It
alludes to classical portraits of Mary and child, but with a non-European
woman. At its center is a large room with only a few pieces on each of the four
walls. All the the paintings are rendered beautifully and are intriguing to the
eye. There was one more small room in the back that held another painting of a
South African women surrounded by children, similar to the painting in the
first small room.
There
was a lot to take in, in Mokgosi’s exhibit with how the subjects in the
portrait engaged each other, but also how the paintings engaged the viewer
through the eyes of the subjects starring right back at you.
The last sentence in the first paragraph is the strongest. Focus on these two things: "we do not know everything" and "this show is based around allegory and love." I want to know more of what you think and how these paintings made you feel. While I think describing a space can be important, these paintings speak for themselves, so I would drop some of the gallery layout stuff and talk about how you were pulled into these spaces and rooms by the paintings.
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