StateoftheART Gallery Announces 2019 Winner

Pretoria-based artist, Balekane Legoabe was announced as the winner of the 2019 StateoftheART Gallery Award. Her digital artwork explored the complexities that compromise has on held values and truths and the resultant impact on personal and social identity.

The Award aims to champion contemporary art by emerging artists resident in South Africa, increasing exposure for their work, and encouraging further professional development opportunities. Entrants were asked to submit work to the theme Cultivating Culture and were challenged to explore the characteristics that determine their personal and social identity: their own unique culture –within a South African context.

This year’s panel of respected art professionals, including the likes of Mirjam Asmal, Director, AVA; Carol Hodes, Curator and Collector; Chris Denovan, Award Winning Artist and Jennifer Reynolds, Director of StateoftheART named Legoabe the overall Award winner.

The Award finalists, as well as winner Balekane Legoabe’s exhibition, reflects a broad range of media, the show features the work of Monique Day-Wilde, Minenkulu Ngoyi, Natasha Brown, Christelle Viviers, Laurette de Jager, Nonkululeko SSibande, Larissa Mwanyama, Damian Osborne and Simon Venter.

As the 2019 winner, Legoabe will be awarded the opportunity of a solo exhibition in 2020, and a cash prize of R20 000 to support the development of new work.