Blessing Ngobeni

Blessing Ngobeni (b. 1985) is a South African multidisciplinary artist whose practice encompasses painting, collage, sculpture, video animation, sound installations, and live performances. He creates abstract works of art with a variety of different objects. His artworks are a commentary on themes such as self-enrichment and the abuse of power. Ngobeni draws upon his own experiences and community struggles, creating large-scale paintings brimming with symbolism and narrative depth, through which he condemns the government’s failures to fulfil post-Apartheid promises of equality.

Blessing Ngobeni (b. 1985) is a South African artist based in Johannesburg. He was born in the town of Tzaneen, located in the largely rural Limpopo province of South Africa. He moved to the Johannesburg metropolis at a very young age, where he experienced many hardships, from living on the streets, to serving time in prison – what he describes as “the usual South African story.” He has since then built an exceptional and unique career in the South African art industry. Bringing with him a unique style and a critique of political regimes, Ngobeni made the corruption, incompetence, and duplicity of current South African ruling elite the subjects of his art. He tackles the disconcerting consequences of betraying democratic ideals, the failure to learn from historical tragedies and the expanding gap between the rich and poor. He uses his expressionist paintings not only to overtly critique the current status quo, but to ask uncomfortable questions about the African’s experience of the world. His languages also draw inspiration from various movements, including Surrealism and Neo-Expressionism. He re-examines and re-imagines working ideas by artists including Jean-Michel Basquiat, David Koloane and Pablo Picasso.
In 2025, Blessing Ngobeni began collaborating with DKW Printer Sbongiseni Khulu. Together the two explored soft ground and hard ground etching and pronto lithography, exploring the performative aspects of jazz music and the similarities in dance between African countries. Ngobeni's first series of prints at David Krut Workshop mark a significant departure from his signature colorful, large-scale mixed-media paintings. This series strips away color to focus on form and emotion, capturing the improvisational rhythm and dynamism that define both jazz and Ngobeni’s artistic voice. Recurring figures dance across the composition, and their evident fervent passion could be interpreted as pain or joy. Central to this body of work is the exploration of how pain and grief offer opportunities for creation of beauty, allowing for harmony to form from chaos as healing progresses.
Blessing Ngobeni (b. 1985, Tzaneen, South Africa) is a multidisciplinary artist whose practice spans painting, collage, sculpture, video animation, sound installations, and performance. Drawing on influences from Surrealism, Dadaism, and Neo-Expressionism, his work delivers a sharp critique of South Africa’s socio-political landscape through symbolically rich compositions that expose governmental corruption, betrayed democratic ideals, and the widening divide between wealth and poverty.
Solo exhibitions of Ngobeni's work include Ntsumi Ya Vutomi at Everard Read (Johannesburg, 2024) Blessing Ngobeni at Everard Read (London, 2023), Replica Ever Sang at Circa (Cape Town, 2020), and A Note From Error at Everard Read (London, 2018). His work is consistently shown at the FNB Joburg Art Fair and Investec Cape Town Art Fair, and has also been featured at The Armory Show (New York, 2020), the Venice Art Biennial (2019), Art X Lagos (2019), CONTEXT Art Miami (2019), EXPO Chicago (2017 and 2018) and PULSE Miami Beach (2018). Ngobeni was the recipient of the 2020 Standard Bank Young Artist Award for the Visual Arts, as well as the 2013 Arts & Culture Trust Young Professional ImpACT award, the 2013 Mail and Guardian ‘200 Young South Africans’ award, and the 2012 Reinhold Cassirer Art Award by Nadine Gordimer, which afforded him a three-month residency at Johannesburg's Bag Factory. In 2015 he attended a two-month residency at the Headlands Centre for Art in San Francisco and in 2016 was the only artist from Africa among several international artists selected for the Cleveland Foundation’s Creative Fusion Program. Beyond his artistic practice, Ngobeni remains dedicated to supporting emerging artists through mentorship initiatives including the Blessing Ngobeni Studio Art Award (launched with Bag Factory Artists’ Studios in 2017).

News

The Conductor: Blessing Ngobeni’s Movement in Intaglio
Apr. 4, 2026

Written by Danijela CookThroughout his reflections on the Excursion Series, Blessing Ngobeni repeatedly turns to the language of music. He speaks...

Tags: Arts on Main, Danijela Cook, David Krut Print Workshop, David Krut Projects, David Krut Projects Arts on Main, David Krut Projects Johannesburg, David Krut Workshop, Exhibition, Printmaking
The subtle art of curating: when one plus one equals three
Apr. 1, 2026

The Subtle Art of Curating When one plus one equals three I recently had the opportunity to assist our Director,...

Tags: Ame Bell, curation, Gallery
The Excursion Series
Feb. 13, 2026

Blessing Ngobeni's Guide to Reading His First Etchings   Blessing Ngobeni collaborated with David Krut Workshop Printer Sbongiseni Khulu on a 6...

Tags: aquatint, Arts on Main, Blessing Ngobeni, David Krut Print Workshop, David Krut Projects, David Krut Projects Arts on Main, David Krut Workshop, edition, etching, Hardground, Printmaking, Sbongiseni Khulu, Softground
Blessing Ngobeni: First Etchings, Infinite Rhythm
Dec. 8, 2025

The Excursion Series Khulu's first visit to Ngobeni's studio included a viewing of some recently completed paintings. https://davidkrutprojects.com/cms/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/IMG_8826.movThe project began...

Tags: Arts on Main, Blessing Ngobeni, David Krut Print Workshop, David Krut Projects, David Krut Projects Arts on Main, David Krut Projects Johannesburg, etching, Printmaking
WORKSHOP HAPPENINGS: July Visits at the David Krut Workshop 
Jul. 28, 2025

Written by: Lungile NgcoboJuly has been an eventful month at our Workshop in Maboneng, Johannesburg, marked by dynamic studio visits...

Tags: Arts on Main, David Krut Print Workshop, David Krut Projects Johannesburg, David Krut Workshop, Monotype, Printmaking, students, UJ, UJ Art Gallery, UNISA FINE ART STUDENTS, workshop happenings

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