Blessing Ngobeni is a South African artist from Tzaneen. He was born in 1985 and trained at the Artist Proof Studio in Newtown, Johannesburg.

Mandy de Waal of the Daily Maverick describes Blessing Ngobeni as “producing award-winning work reminiscent of the style of Míro, but it is work that is fiercely critical of South Africa’s political elite.” He creates his artwork with a range of found objects, waste materials, and paint on canvas, including magazine cuttings and found cardboard canvasses.

His artworks relates to the themes of self-enrichment and abuse of power, it appears in pieces like ‘Hybrid’, ‘Don’t Shoot’ and ‘Political in Conflict’, which is about politicians fighting for tenders. For his solo show at Gallery MOMO titled As If You Care in August 2015, he affirms:

“I have found that most people act as if they care for the greater good, particularly those in power, but in reality they don’t […] the business of self-enrichment does not accommodate mercy.”

Ngobeni’s work is best understood in the context of his past. At the age of ten he moved from his home of Tzaneen, Limpopo to the city of Johannesburg where, predictably, he fell in with a bad crowd and became involved in crime. Five years later he was arrested for armed robbery and spent close to six years in prison, during which time he began painting – and with some fervour – for in 2012 he was the recipient of the Reinhold Cassirer Award and with it, a residency at the Bag Factory. In bestowing the award upon Ngobeni, they commented, “The most profound part of his application is the work itself. His paintings are filled with the irony of the cabaret, sporting the influences of Norman Catherine and Miró, while never forgetting his township roots.”

This artist was also one of the first ones to depict Nelson Mandela in a way that few artists would dare: as a severed head, a streak of red paint flowing from his mouth. Charcoal rings encircle his eyes; his hair shining silver. He explained that he is angry at the way his image is currently being abused and betrayed by some people in South Africa right. Ngobeni’s images are attempting to bring us back to the reality, the forgotten world of the poor and the excluded.