Sam Nhlengethwa, Glimpses of the 50's and 60's

Artists Statement:
"The title of this series is 'Glimpses of the Fifties and Sixties'. I have chosen to work in the style to which I have become accustomed (collage) and to also explore my printing via the photogravure process. I think one of the reasons I like this process is that it has an element of collage in it, but the process is more physically involved and delicate. It entails digitising an initial collage and working through at least five plates before even considering the trial print to be used for the series.

I sourced material from the Drum magazine archives and I also looked through my own family albums. The use of my own archive was important because I wanted to reflect an intimacy and a familiarity that would make the images accessible. Looking through the albums I reminisced about growing up in my grandmother's house and how I always found the dining room with the wedding photograph so intriguing. I also recalled enjoying a softball match in Westonaria (a small mining community on the West Rand) amidst the many dompas and curfew laws. Today these images have now been revived in the music videos of Mafikizolo and the 'Stoned Cherry' fashion label. I think I'm lucky in the sense that I have used art as an outlet for the frustrations I encountered during this time. My visual expression through painting was therapeutic and has now been transformed into what I believe to be a historical retrospective".
Sam Nhlengethwa 2004

A series of prints which are all the same size, printed by hand as colour photolithographs from pre-sensitised aluminium plates.

Sam Nhlengethwa Jazz Lithographs

Sam Nhlengethwa Township Series Lithographs

Sam Nhlengethwa Kind of Blue Lithographs

Sam Nhlengethwa Tribute Lithographs

Sam Nhlengethwa Goat Lithographs

Sam Nhlengethwa Restaurant Lithographs

Sam Nhlengethwa Archive

New Editions