Mohau Modisakeng uses his body to explore the influence of South Africa’s violent history on our cultural, political and social existence. Represented through film, photographic prints, installations and performance, Modisakeng’s work responds to the history of the black body within the (South) African context, which is inseparably intertwined with the violence of the Apartheid-era and the early 1990s. His images are powerful yet poetic invocations of violence, where the body is transformed into a poignant marker of collective memory.
In 2019, Modisakeng performed at the Sharjah Biennale 14 and at Click Festival, Denmark. His work has been exhibited at the Zeitz MOCAA, Cape Town (2017); PERFORMA17, New York (2017); Saatchi Gallery, London (2012); and the Dak’Art Biennale, Dakar (2012). Modisakeng represented South Africa at the 57th Venice Biennale (2017). Public Collections include the Johannesburg Art Gallery, IZIKO South African National Gallery, Saatchi Gallery, From Cobra to Contemporary, EKARD, Dommering, and the Zeitz MOCAA Collections.