A body of work called Gymnasium, currently viewable on the Stevenson gallery’s website, welcomes viewers into a utopia that is soft and powerful in engaging with the black woman identity within gymnastics, writes Nickita Maesela.
A body of work called Gymnasium, currently viewable on the Stevenson gallery’s website, welcomes viewers into a utopia that is soft and powerful in engaging with the black woman identity within gymnastics, writesTRIALS 2020, oil on canvas, 100cm x 150cm Pictures: Thenjiwe Niki Nkosi, Courtesy of Stevenson Cape Town and JohannesburgIn Yoruba, praise poems are called oriki; in isiZulu, they are izibongo.
According to the fashion, art and culture publication Document Journal, “the Gymnasium series began as outgrowth of earlier architectural paintings examining the symbolic vestiges of apartheid in Johannesburg, in recognition that ‘nothing much had changed’.” The solo show explores blackness as an identity within organised sport, and offers an intimate perspective of gymnastics.
Gymnastics prodigy Simone Biles; one of the greatest tennis players of all time, Serena Williams; and middle-distance runner and Olympic gold medallist Caster Semenya are explicit examples of the challenges that particularly black women are expected to overcome to be considered acceptable to be the best in their respective fields.
The opening shot of the video, titled Suspension, shows Dianne Durham, the first African-American gymnast to become a US national champion. Her arms are in formation covering her face, showing us only her forehead running up to her Afro, and the letters USA are printed on the chest of her pastel purple leotard.
A tale of thriving over surviving, Nkosi’s paintings ignite visuals that can be placed in children’s books and art galleries, carrying the weight of empowerment of marginalised and discarded identities. Lessons of determination, work ethic, camaraderie, resilience through so much pain, where there is also so much good, is evident in many stories written about black woman athletes who are record holders and champions in what they do.
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