The Norval Sovereign African Art Prize 2023 Benefit Auction | Hosted by Sotheby’s

Cinthia Sifa Mulanga

All My Emos

Reserves

Lot Closed

January 31, 05:05 PM GMT

Estimate

3,500 - 4,500 USD

Lot Details

Description

Cinthia Sifa Mulanga

Democratic Republic of Congo

b. 1997

All My Emos

signed, titled and dated 2022 (on the reverse)

acrylic paint, collage and charcoal on canvas

55 by 76cm.,21⅝ by 29⅞in.

framed: 57 by 78cm., 22½ by 30¾in.

Please be aware of the Conditions of Sale when bidding. As a benefit auction, there is no buyer’s premium charged. The only additional costs due to the winning bidder are applicable sales tax and shipping. Works auctioned are sold “as is,” and condition reports are included with lot descriptions as available. In-person previews of the auction artwork will be available at Norval Foundation at 4 Steenberg Rd, Tokai, Cape Town, 7945, South Africa from 25 January – 20 March, Monday to Sundays 9AM – 5:00PM (Closed on Tuesdays).Please note that while this auction is hosted on Sothebys.com, it is being administered by Norval Foundation (“the museum”), and all post-sale matters (inclusive of invoicing and property pickup/shipment) will be handled by the museum. As such, Sotheby’s will share the contact details for the winning bidders with the museum so that they may be in touch directly post-sale.

This work has been kindly donated by the artist

Cinthia Sifa Mulanga is a painter whose work addresses questions of belonging and how we give meaning to the place(s) we call home, while drawing upon her own experience growing up in South Africa as a Congolese national. Focusing on black female subjects, Mulanga explores representations of beauty using the language of popular culture and historical painting. She depicts domestic spaces, often with multiple figures, which become a type of multi-perspectival portrait. Often the figures do not interact with one another; they seem engaged in their own thoughts and feelings, though never entirely unconscious of the viewer’s gaze. Through her practice, Mulanga plays with traditions of western painting, challenging the absence of black female figures.

In All my Emos (2022), Mulanga depicts different personas, emotions or states of mind that can occupy a single space or moment in time. Her intention is to highlight the complexities of female identity. References to Mulanga’s own work punctuate the painting, revealing her fascination with black women’s self-expression.