Fowler Museum exhibition to feature UCLA alumnus’s work highlighting daily life in southern Africa
“Meleko Mokgosi: Bread, Butter and Power” opens at the Fowler Museum Feb. 11, 2018
Meleko Mokgosi, born in 1981 in Francistown, Botswana lives in New York, where he teaches at the Gallatin School at New York University. He received his bachelor of fine arts from Williams College in 2007 and received his M.F.A. from UCLA in 2011. The Fowler Museum will feature 20 large-scale paintings in “Meleko Mokgosi: Bread, Butter, and Power” opening Feb. 11, 2018.
"A new exhibition at the Fowler Museum at UCLA will feature 20 large-scale paintings hung frieze-style around the perimeter of the Lucas Gallery that masterfully render scenes of daily life in southern Africa addressing themes of feminism, the gendered division of labor, and the place of women in the nation-state.
“Meleko Mokgosi: Bread, Butter, and Power” is a newly commissioned installation and the most recent chapter in Mokgosi’s series “Democratic Intuition” (2013–present), which explores the ways that democratic concepts influence our lives, loves and relationships. The exhibition opens Feb. 11, 2018 and runs through July 1.
“Bread, Butter, and Power” is Mokgosi’s first solo museum exhibition in Los Angeles and also a homecoming for the Botswana-born, New York-based artist, who earned his M.F.A. from the interdisciplinary studio program at UCLA in 2011. Solo exhibitions of Mokgosi’s work have recently been presented at the Williams College Museum of Art (2017); the Memorial Art Gallery of the University of Rochester and Rochester Contemporary Art Center (2017); and the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston (2015).
Several paintings in the installation depict intimate scenes of men and women in their homes — interior spaces that reflect their lived experience. In one, a young woman sits casually on a comfortable chair in an airy, well-appointed room. Her leisurely pose raises questions about the labor expected of women according to their socioeconomic positions. Other canvases venture outdoors to portray groups of school children and market stands. These explore ideas about the varied standing of women across the social fabric of southern Africa, the sacrifices made by women and the failure of national governments to value their hard work."— Erin Connors, Dec. 15, 2017
This post is an excerpt, read the full article at the UCLA Newsroom website.