Take Care of Me

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Even after the fall of apartheid, the exposure of artists of color remains limited. It is a challenge to identify works of art by artists within and outside the country who are not exhibited in important international exhibitions or represented by South Africa’s major galleries. Washington D.C. benefited from the 2014 exhibition South African Voices: A New Generation of Printmakers, which was held at the Washington Printmakers Gallery. The large selection of artworks on view and held by the gallery introduced NMAfA curators to a younger generation of black South African artists who have yet to receive widespread coverage. Their works are promoted by Vula Amehlo Art Development, a Johannesburg-based organization founded in 2011 by Anne Gordon that supports the work of young, emerging South African artists through exhibitions, workshops, and career-management training. “Vula Amehlo” means “open your eyes” in Zulu and related languages.

This etching monoprint, purple in color and with a luminous sense of light, depicts through line and texture a woman’s party dress.

I Am: Contemporary African Women Artists, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., June 20, 2019 - April 3, 2022

South African Voices, Washington Printmakers Gallery, Silver Spring, MD, January 2-24, 2014

Gordon, Anne. 2013. South African Voices: A New Generation of Printmakers. Silver Spring, Maryland: Washington Printmakers Gallery and Johannesburg: Vula Amehlo Art Development. p. 23.

As part of our commitment to accessibility and transparency, the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art is placing its collection records online. Please note that some records are incomplete (missing image or content descriptions) and others reflect out-of-date language or systems of thought regarding how to engage with and discuss cultural heritage and the specifics of individual artworks. If you see content requiring immediate action, we will do our best to address it in a timely manner. Please email nmafacuratorial@si.edu if you have any questions.

High resolution digital images are not available for some objects. For publication quality photography and permissions, please contact the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives at https://africa.si.edu/research/eliot-elisofon-photographic-archives/