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Where art meets interiors

Azael Langa Black tax 2018.jpg

AZAEL LANGA

Artist Speciailsing In Fumage

Azael Langa is a fine artist and sculptor who was born in Johannesburg in 1988 and currently resides in Pretoria and working from his studio in Johannesburg, South Africa. A practitioner of the artistic technique of fumage, Langa uses different types of smoke on canvas or paper to give different kinds of scenarios that take place in his community.

 

Langa’s work has been exhibited in international art fairs and exhibitions around the world including in Switzerland, the Netherlands, South Africa and the U.S.A. and featured in publications such as the Sunday Times (2019), Art Africa Magazine (2019) and Pretoria News (2011). 

Langa’s primary inspiration is close to home as he often creates illustrations relating to stories, people and events in his local community as a way of highlighting the importance that these have had in shaping his views and his identity. His work often explores pertinent social issues such as exclusion and exploitation as well as the dualism which exists between the individual and society.

Langa’s works is mostly figurative and he portrays them carrying a home, to show how we always carry our loved ones with where ever we go. The image of a house (four room house) is a symbol of love, warmth, care and comfort, as these are drawn from the home he grew up in. He uses ink to add colour and candle smoke to add life, and to purify and heal. Langa’s work is trying to capture the essence of a spirit.

‘Smoke is not just a medium, but an extension & expression of my soul. It allows me to see beyond the Physical’ –Langa

Langa’s work is trying to capture the spirit, the dusty remains of the everyday lives he encounter on the streets, the heart of the city. Langa believes there is a higher force in control of our existence and we are all just bodies that transfer energies between one another, good or bad. In his work he wishes to honour the unseen men and women, the overlooked shadows behind our lives, shadows of the city trying desperately to earn a living. All those silent ghosts in our economy, who are desperately trying to uphold their households, To capture and immortalise these ignored people, he use two types of smoke in his drawings, candle & plastic smoke.

 

He uses the poisonous smoke from plastic to try and translate the toxic side he has witnessed in the shadow of the city and he uses candle smoke as a gesture of illuminating and purifying their situation. Langa says most of us in the community are where we are today because of the overlooked people the shadows of the city mostly mother’s who do all they can to put food on the table and also the fathers who do all they can to uphold their homes.

 With his work he hopes to shine a light on these very important people in our lives and he tells their stories as a way of appreciating and immortalising their silent sacrifices.

Azael is available for commissions.

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