Neo Theku
Artist Biography
Theku’s works reflect personal experiences essentially linked to larger
social and mental structures. Informed by his experience as a fatherless boy,
raised by an overprotective mother. Theku uses memory as a portal to reflect on
past ignored emotional states to explore the theme of mental health among young
black male adults. His photography, film, and performance grapple with the
system that societies use to upbring yet still destroy a male figure in black
communities. Theku’s opus represents the saddening moment of grieving and a
perilous response to the psychological legacy.
Through his work Theku
critically engages with the complex instrument of healing the toxicity, and
brutal acts of violence yet aimed at examining society’s ability to create a
genuine black male character.
Theku uses a personal diction
of ritual and symbols in which his physical form becomes a signifier. His use
of his own body is a significant shift away from the problematic depiction of
the other and is a gesture of self-actualization and acknowledgment of
subjective experience.
Neo Theku (b.1996) was born in
Botshabelo, grew up in Lesotho then moved to Bloemfontein, South Africa to
start High-School in 2010. He currently lives and works from Bloemfontein.
Theku completed Advanced Diploma in Graphic Design at Central University of
Technology, Bloemfontein 2020.
His works have been exhibited
at Oliewenhuis Art Museum (2019), Phatshoane Henney Attorneys (2020), Gallery 2
(2021), Ark Contemporary (2022) MM Art House (2022). He had taken part in the
Art Bank of South Africa Commission Program (2021), Sasol New Signature
Finalist (2021), The Nature of Cities Festival (2022), Creative Feels’ Living
Heritage (2022), Blessing Ngobeni Art Prize finalist (2022). ABSA L’Atelier
finalist (2022), SEED 2nd Edition (2022), Digital Lab Africa Visual
Art Bootcamp (2022).
