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In this work, Nokukhanya Langa transforms a weathered grey surface into a layered field of signs, scribbles and flashes of colour. Bold white loops and a luminous rainbow-coloured motif stand out against faint lines and fragments of marks that seem partly erased. The surface feels like a visual palimpsest, where images and signs overlap, emerge and gradually disappear.

This interplay between abstraction and recognisable symbols is characteristic of Langa’s artistic practice. Her paintings combine colour, text, graffiti-like gestures and fragments of contemporary visual culture, drawing on personal memory, cultural identity and the constant flow of images that shape everyday life. Her works can appear playful and immediate at first glance, yet resist a single, fixed interpretation.

Born in Maryland, USA, in 1991, Langa received the Mondriaan Fund Stipendium for Emerging Artists and, in 2021, the C.o.C.A. Award. Her work has been exhibited at major institutions including Centre Pompidou in Paris, Kunstinstituut Melly in Rotterdam, chi K11 Art Museum in Shanghai and S.M.A.K. in Ghent. She has also presented work with galleries including Saatchi Yates in London and BARBÉ in Ghent.

Her growing institutional and gallery presence reflects the increasing attention paid to her distinctive visual language. In this painting, the contrast between the subdued grey ground and the vivid graphic elements captures something essential to her practice: the way fragments of images and everyday signs can become mysterious, personal and open to interpretation.