For a young artist who graduated only in 2002 and has yet to have his first solo show, Tollman Award winner Nicholas Hlobo has produced an astonishing body of powerfully realized work in a wide variety of materials.

Different as they may look as one scans down a page of images, wide ranging as his sources may be, Hlobo's works and performances are distinguished by an unusual clarity of vision and sensitivity to materials. Addressing issues of sexual identity, challenging stereotypes, sometimes wildly exuberant, sometimes cool and reflective, each piece has been fully resolved in its own way.

Hlobo also has the rare ability to write lucidly and insightfully about his process and artmaking.

Igqirha Lendlela is both sculpture and performance, and is intended by the artist to explore the idea of freedom in South Africa.

Writes Hlobo on the piece:'The title is derived from the Xhosa choral song Igqirha lendlela nguqongqothwane.' This means that the dung beetle is the doctor of the road. The dung beetles are amazing with their ability to roll dung using their hind legs - they'd then make their way to their nests rolling the dung using backward movement.

'To me, this says a lot about the courage and confidence they have. They are not intimidated by having to move things larger than their bodies. And, this movement says nothing about having backward thinking. Instead it presents a lot of intelligence and knowing where they come from. The song is used to refer to those who are wise and educated [in various ways] and says that they are the ones who are enlightened and know the way forward.

'In this performance the song or title of the song is used as a metaphor to South Africa, its culture(s), the future and the past. The work attempts to comment on the heavy past that South Africans have to bear with. This is suggested by altering garments [jackets] in such a way that they have a big unusual hump that grows or have grown at the back.

'The hump will be added to the garments so that it looks as though it is part of the design and at the same time foreign. The altered jackets and the performance make a conversation on the heavy baggage we carry as South Africans. What this says is that South Africans have the strength to move forward with ease despite how heavy our past may seem.'

'The character hopes to behave like any normal person would. He'd visit exhibitions, go to restaurants, window shop, go to libraries, meet people, etc.

'In this jacket I used rubber from inner tyre tubes because of its relation to other works I made. I stitched the pieces together using red ribbon. The ribbon found its way into becoming a thread because of its smooth texture and red colour. The colour also worked as the lining of the jacket is red. As we all know, red is such a dramatic colour'.

Asked what led to a decision to make a career in art, Hlobo replied 'It started when I was still young in primary school. We never had art as a subject and I'd be asked to illustrate for my class because I liked drawing.

'In 1998 I decide to study art so that I could work in the film industry. During my studies at Technikon Witwatersrand I realised that as an artist I could still make a good contribution in the South African culture without having to make films and this is where I am now.'

'Through my works I attempt to create conversations that explore certain issues within my culture as a South African. The conversations become a way of questioning people's perceptions around issues of masculinity, gender, race and ethnicity.'

Hlobo is the 2006 winner of the Tollman Award which carries prize money of R100 000. Donated by the Tollman family, the award is given each year to an exceptionally promising young artist.

Says Hlobo, 'Winning the Tollman Award has been the most significant moment in my career. It made me realise the importance of my being an artist in this country - suddenly someone celebrated my contribution into the South African culture.'

Earlier this year, Hlobo participated in 'Olvida Quien Soy - Erase me from who I am', at the Centro Atlantico de Arte Moderno, Las Palmas, which is where he exhibited and performed Igqirha Lendlela, amongst other works.

Hlobo first began to come to public notice when he was selected by curator Tumelo Mosaka as one of his picks for 10 Years 100 Artists (Bell Roberts Publishing/Struik 2004), and appeared on the Sophie Perryer curated show at Michael Stevenson Contemporary, 'In the Making' (2005).

The artist's first solo show is planned for Michael Stevenson Contemporary in August. Intente is one of the new works to be exhibited.

Writing about this show, Hlobo says that the works on this exhibition will look at, among other things, 'comfort, shelter, protection, beauty, cleanliness, sacred space, pleasure and fantasy'. He describes elements of the show as follows:

'We will look at military camps in this country, which signify protection, destruction and display of power. When in trouble soldiers would drop their tents to send a signal to their friends alerting them of an invasion by the enemy.

'This is where the work Intente plays its part. It is inspired by the idea of a tent as something that gives shelter and is also a symbol of power and masculinity. Young Xhosa men at times refer to someone having an erection as umis' iintente, meaning 'he's got his tents up'. The thought of something pushing from below with great pressure can be related to the struggle for equal rights by homosexual men and their female counterparts.

And after that?

'I'll be busy working on the Hotel Room Project at Spier, Stellenbosch. I am among a group of about ten artists that were selected to come up with concepts/designs that would give the hotel rooms a non-conventional creative feel.'

NICHOLAS HLOBO

Born Cape Town, 1975. Lives and works in Johannesburg.

Education

2002 B Tech: Fine Arts, Technikon Witwatersrand
1998 Printmaking apprenticeship, Artist Proof Studio, Newtown

Upcoming solo exhibition

2006 Michael Stevenson, Cape Town (16 August - 16 September)

Selected group exhibitions and performances

2006 Women's March commemorative exhibition, Iziko South African National
Gallery (June - September)
2006 Olvida Quien Soy - Erase me from who I am, Centro Atlantico de Arte
Moderno, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
2006 Performance at Vansa conference, Cape Town
2005 Performance at Sessions Ikapa, Cape Town
2005 South African art 1848 - now, Michael Stevenson,Cape Town
2005 Synergy, Iziko Old Town House Museum, Cape Town
2005 Inventors, makers and movers, Arti et Amicitiae, Amsterdam
2005 In the making: materials and process, Michael Stevenson, Cape Town
2005 Take me to the river, Pretoria Art Museum, Pretoria
2005 Subject to change, Iziko South African National Gallery, Cape Town
2005 Klein Karoo National Arts Festival, Oudtshoorn
2005 A Decade of Democracy: Witnessing South Africa, Dallas, Texas,
and KZNSA Gallery, Durban
2005 10 Years 100 Artists, Bell-Roberts Gallery, Cape Town
2004 Jo'burg Art City, Johannesburg Development Agency, Johannesburg
2004 Intercession, Johannesburg Art Gallery
2004 Mine(d) Fields, Stadtgalerie, Bern, Switzerland
2004 A Decade of Democracy: Witnessing South Africa,
Center for African American Artists, Boston, Massachusetts
2004 Show Us What You're Made Of II, The Premises Gallery, Johannesburg
2003 Makeshift, Johannesburg Art Gallery, Johannesburg
2003 18th Absa L'Atelier Exhibition, Absa Gallery, Johannesburg
2002 Jo'burg Art City, The Fort, Constitution Hill, Johannesburg
2002 17th Absa L'Atelier Exhibition, Absa Gallery, Johannesburg
2000 Arts Alive, Electric Workshop, Johannesburg
2000 Pride Exhibition, The Zone at Rosebank and Windybrow Theatre, Johannesburg
1998 Artist Proof Studio Exhibition, Cape Town

Awards

2006 Tollman Award for Visual Art 2006

Residencies

2005 Three-month residency at Thami Mnyele Foundation, Amsterdam

Public collections

Iziko South African National Gallery, Cape Town;
University of South Africa (Unisa), Pretoria