Motlhoki Nono
Kissing Studies
Johannesburg-based artist Motlhoki Nono was born in Mabopane, Pretoria in 1998. She holds an Honours in Fine Arts, obtained with five distinctions and two awards from the University of the Witwatersrand. In 2022, Motlhoki became the first woman to win the Earnest Cole award for photography. From August to October 2022, she was a fellow participating in the African Leipzig International Art Programme (LIA).
Motlhoki uses video and printmaking to explore the politics of intimacy and violence in romantic love. She sees her work as contributing to decoloniality while documenting the complexities of black love. Motlhoki engages the ideas of consumption, domesticity and romance to perform and document the internal lives of black women in love. Her practice is characterised by valorisation, problematisation and curiosity towards Black love, as well as complexities and joys of the domestic and heart spaces. She defines her practice as a decolonial and sociological enquiry into love, exploring how love manifests at the intersection of race, class and gender.
Nono Motlhoki was first introduced to David Krut Projects in 2021, when she applied for and received a spot in the African Leipzig international Art Programme, which she completed in 2022. She later returned to the David Krut Workshop in 2023, where she completed a series of experimental monotypes using lipstick and kissing to create the marks. She also experimented with softground etching and pronto lithography in the creation of this series.
Her solo show, ‘Kissing Studies’ will debut at David Krut Projects, 151 Jan Smuts Ave, Parkwood on the 14th of February 2024. The exhibition presents the recent collaborative works made by Motlhoki with the David Krut Workshop.
Motlhoki undertakes the responsibility of portraying her subjects as active agents and central protagonists within romantic narratives. Each print represents an intimate portrait and contribution towards an archive of black romantic representations.
Motlhoki’s exploration of love extends beyond the confines of traditional methods. Utilising experimental printmaking, she delves into the politics of intimacy and romantic love. Her work not only contributes to the discourse on decoloniality but also documents the intricate complexities of black love, framing it within the broader intersections of race, class, and gender.
