Thebe Phetogo

Thebe Phetogo (born 1993 in Serowe, Botswana) is a Botswana visual artist working across painting, sculpture and installation art. His works interrogates personal and collective identity, historical narratives and the visual representation of Black bodies through the innovative use of materials, chroma key aesthetics and mythology. Phetogo's artwork continues to be a vibrant and influential force in the changing world of contemporary African art.

Education

He earned a Postgraduate Diploma in Fine Art (2017) and Master of Fine Arts (2019) from the University of Cape Town's Michaelis School of Fine Art. Phetogo also holds a BA in Media Studies from the University of Botswana.

Artistic themes and styles

Phetogo's work deftly blends figurative and abstract landscapes to explore the construction of race, Setswana geography, mythology and indigenous knowledge systems. He frames his paintings as living documents of "world-version" using tools such as chroma key (green screen) imagery, comic visual language, maps and historical systems of representations to represent both absence and presence.

His signature blackbody series draws on the physical concept of a perfect absorber and metaphorically explores visibility, idealized Black bodies and dislocation. The green-screen aesthetic symbolizes both a screen for erasure and a space for becoming.

Exhibitions and career milestones

Solo exhibitions

1. Ka Go Lowe at Guns & Rain, Johannesburg (March 2021)
2. Blackbody Composites at ko Artspace, Lagos (Nov 2020)
3. Blackbody Rogues' Gallery at Von Ammon Co, Washington, D.C.

Group exhibitions and fairs

1. A Confluence, Unintended at 99 Loop Gallery, Cape Town (2020)
2. Fresh Voices at Guns & Rain, Johannesburg (2020)
3. Joburg Fringe at The Art Room, Johannesburg (2019)
4. The Botswana Pavilion – No Return, Gallery Momo, Cape Town (2019)
5. The Botswana Pavilion – Subjective Nationhood, Botswana National Museum, Gaborone (2019)
6. Thapong Artist of the Year Exhibition, Gaborone (2016)
7. ABSA L'Atelier Top 100 Exhibition, Johannesburg (2016)

Residencies and recognitions

1. Arthouse Foundation Residency, Lagos (2020).
2. Art Connection Africa Residency, Bag Factory, Johannesburg (2021).
3. Greatmore Studio Visiting Artist Residency, Cape Town ( 2021)
4. Cassirer Welz Award Finalist (2019)
5. Emerging Painting Invitational Prize Finalist (2020)
6. Founding Member of the Botswana Pavilion Artist Collective

Reception and critical commentary

Thebe Phetogo's work is regarded as a provocative re-imagining of Black representation, employing chroma-key aesthetics as metaphor. Critics note his bold use of vivid, artificial greens and sculptural painterly figures to question historical distortion, invisibility and myth. His first solo US show further cemented his growing international presence.

References