blank projects
07.12 - 25.01.2025
Human connection, the underscore of every relation between artist, art and audience, emerges to me as more than a desire line in Igshaan Adams’s works, but a provocation after the power of a shared physical experience. It is impossible to be in proximity to a work by Adams and not think of each one as a sight of convergence, creating also an audience by the example of their creative community and family. I would be remiss not to mention each member of Igshaan Adams Studio by name: Phumeza Mgwinteni, Busisa Mahlahla, Zandile Ntleko, Nocawe Jamani, Lindokuhle Mzila, Tamaryn Alexander, Morné Roux, Raylin Roux, Junaid Van Wyk, Tony Webster, Athlene Dias, Ursula Alexander, Tyrese Jacobs, Monique Du Plessis, Gloire Nossa Mayengo, Veronique Koso Ekombo, Rushkah Adams, Aseza Mgwinteni, Nandipha Mahlahla, Masande Mahlahla, Nuraan Adams, Dylan Van Leeve, Azola Mgwinteni, and Nafiesa Adams.
Igshaan Adams, Holy Terrain (2024), Installation view at blank projects, Cape Town
Even without the privilege of their presence, every hand that weaves and collaborates remains present, at least to me, in tandem with the awe that each work’s undertaking emits. Continuing the artist’s relationship to ‘mark-making’ Barrier, 2024 —composed of cotton twine, silver ball chain, silver, rose and gold linked chain, as well as tiger tail wire— is initialled here and there with the shape of open palms, a reminder that each thread and every compounding stitch has its own maker. On the covers of the exhibition publication more palm imprints are found along with images of the Studio workspace, as everyone works together. “Adams, we can say with certainty, comfortably draws upon the intelligence of the collective. What ensues is a conceptual and formal conversation with his interlocutors to reimagine thoughts, forms, motifs, and politics that reverberate between selves in an effort to restate that while the personal is political, it is, lest we forget, also communal,” writes Dr. Thabang Monoa for this latest solo exhibition with blank projects.
Igshaan Adams, Barrier (2024)
Quiet connections form in my mind when I consider the physicality of realising these works together in relation to each other. When I appreciate the cultural nuances and significance expressed in this togetherness within its present-tense context. I’ve witnessed the Studio team syncopate into a rhythm: of creation as well as conversation. The level to which Adams continues to be fluid in his determination of his ideas and vision, while continuing to bring others into the flow of what many artists are so ‘protective’ of, is the sort of vulnerability that can only make way for a tremendous legacy. I’ve seen firsthand the Studio’s dedication to the community, having spent time photographing and learning from them during their stay at Zeitz MOCAA’s Atelier Residency between October, 2022 and May 2023. Together with the education department, the Studio hosted multiple workshops for underserved youth on-site on weekends —over and above operating full-time as an open studio for the museum— broadening the institution’s audience in doing so. Thematic investigations toward ‘taking up space’, liberating Black and Brown children in pursuit of their expression aren’t relegated notions of conversation, but an opportunity for Adams’s work to inspire creativity and action change at once.
Igshaan Adams, Landfill, (2024)
With Landfill, 2024, Adams continues to engage with materiality as a vessel not only for the sake of symbolism but also for the sake of meaningful connection. The work of undoing the subterranean social tangles resisting the sincerity of something so small and as easily dismissible as a single bead by allowing its collective composition to embody something far greater than its scale feels very relative to the state of social consensus of late. Reformed in the swarming colour and texture, without any explicit figuration in sight, Adams’s works still level commentary on our presence: as his audience, and as his equals sharing time. Enjoying the idea of “dreamscapes as spiritual and aesthetic resources,” according to Monoa, I make the most of a near-liminal daze while spending time with the works.
The titular work of this exhibition is composed of cotton twine, polypropylene, cotton and polyester braided rope, wood, glass, plastic, stone and cowry shell beads, mohair wool and tiger tail wire. At a scale of 5.9 by 4 metres, the texture of the tapestry’s composition evokes an insinuation of scenery whose fantasy demands a direct gaze with the permeance of human detritus. These materials have undergone a recontextualisation process, their former meaning hanging heavy now against the aspirations and assumptions underlying the idea of ‘holy terrain’. The tension, both in definition and dimension, offers the audience ample and valuable opportunity to traverse and ideate for themselves in the midst. Themes of reverence and liminality allow for the work’s generative nature to expand itself around the audience, and create an experience that feels immersive and genuine. The impact Igshaan Adams will have on contemporary South African art will not be limited to commercial success or international acclaim as he continues to deify the ‘day-to-day’ symbology of his kindred and their history, culture and community in an effort not only to humanise but to honour them, too.
Igshaan Adams, Holy Terrain (2024)
