It was with great sadness that the staff at Artthrob learnt of the death of the photographer Thabiso Sekgala.
Goodman Gallery has released this statement:
It is with deep regret and sadness that we learn of the passing of Thabiso Sekgala, a young photographer who first showed his work with the Goodman Gallery in 2011. With heavy hearts we offer our sincere condolences to Thabiso’s family, friends and colleagues. The contemporary art world has lost an important and profound photographer early in his burgeoning career and those who knew him have lost a warm-hearted, thoughtful and compassionate friend.
Thabiso was not only a remarkable photographer, he was also a young man with an innate sensitivity towards the complexity of human experience. “In photography I am inspired by looking at human experience whether lived or imagined. Images capture our history and who we are, our presence and absence. Growing up in both rural and urban South Africa influences my work. The dualities of these both environments inform the stories I am telling through my photographs, by engaging issues around land, peoples’ movement, identity and the notion of home.” In his first solo exhibition with us at Goodman Gallery Cape Town this year, Thabiso challenged perceptions about the notion of paradise and how we define it, making us question what we run away from, and what we run towards.
Thabiso Sekgala was born in 1981 in Johannesburg, South Africa. He studied at Johannesburg’s Market Photo Workshop in 2007 to 2008 and was awarded the Tierney Fellowship in 2010. He has had solo exhibitions in Johannesburg, Berlin and Brussels and has shown in important group shows locally and internationally including the travelling show The Rise and Fall of Apartheid. In 2013 he had residencies in both the Kunsterhaus Bethanien, Berlin, and at HIWAR/Durant Al Funun, Jordan.
Memorial service
In collaboration with the Market Photo Workshop, Goodman Gallery, VANSA and the Goethe-Institut there will be a memorial service at:
Market Photo Workshop
Thursday 23 October 2014 at 13h00
2 President Street
Entrance Bus Factory
Newtown
