Events – Lena's Portfolio

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+27 82 218 1906

Pretoria South Africa

lena@lenahugo.com

Working Life in South Africa: Gerard Sekoto & Lena

Working Life in South Africa: Gerard Sekoto & Lena Hugo

Strauss & Co will host a two-person exhibition featuring Gerard Sekoto and Lena Hugo in Johannesburg. Curated by Wilhelm van Rensburg, Senior Art Specialist and Head Curator at Strauss & Co, Working Life in South Africa: Gerard Sekoto & Lena Hugo will explore Sekoto’s depictions of labourers—nannies, washerwomen, brick-makers, coal merchants, miners, barbers, shopkeepers, street photographers, and water drawers—alongside Hugo’s pastel drawings of heavy-machinery operators.

@strauss_and_co
1 April 2025 - 30 May 2025
89 Central Street, Houghton, Johannesburg

#gerardsekoto #workinglife #artlegacy #work #workers #southafricanartists

“Reaping the Harvest” 122cm x 122cm Pastel on

“Reaping the Harvest”
122cm x 122cm
Pastel on board
From my 2015 exhibition “Grass People”, at Alliance Française, Johannesburg

#migrantworkers #southafricanworkers #pastels #pastelart #pastelportrait #hardpastels #softpastels #chalkpastels #sugarcane

“In the Sugar fields II” - 2007 126cm x 122cm

“In the Sugar fields II” - 2007
126cm x 122cm
Oil on board

#migrantworker #workinart #sugarcane #sugarcaneworker #workerportrait #oilpaint

Finally I can say goodbye, Pepe, until we meet aga

Finally I can say goodbye, Pepe, until we meet again, my brave little cat.
RIP +/- 21 March 2017 - 3 March 2025

“In the Sugar Fields” 2007, one of my last oil

“In the Sugar Fields” 2007, one of my last oils before I made an almost complete transition to pastel.

I miss working in oil sometimes - when looking at beautiful oils in galleries and in artists studios. My fingers get that itch again and my nostrils expand, I can smell it. Dreamed of mixing exquisite colours two nights ago. Vivid dream.

#oilpaint #sugarcutter #oilportrait #migrantworker #sugarcane #southafricanart #southafricanartists #oilcolour

I often feel the need to make multiple portraits o

I often feel the need to make multiple portraits of the same person. This sugar cane worker was also the subject of my life sized “Reaper III”, portrayed glancing over his shoulder and displaying his full long sleeved ‘glow in dark’ skeleton t-shirt, as part of my “Grass People” exhibition at Alliance Française, Johannesburg in 2015 and later moving to Absa Gallery until 2016.

I still have pieces of his t-shirt, which I traded for something less weathered and incorporated into some of my fibre artworks. I just feel it amazing to have that! I sold all the portraits, but I still have his memory sewn into something hanging on my studio wall.

#pastelart #pastelportrait #portraitart #hardpastel #softpastel #chalkpastel #representationalart #sugarcaneworkers #workers #skeletonfashion

“Man” Pastel on board 122cm x 75cm A 2016 wor

“Man”
Pastel on board
122cm x 75cm

A 2016 work that formed part of the group exhibition “Performing Wo/Man” at the Reservoir @oliewenhuisartmuseum curated by @derekzietsman

Clothes form a strong personal bond with the owner’s life originating from its closeness to the wearer’s body, worn within the wearer’s milieu and becoming one with body movement, living and working. Clothes have always been important in signalling gender from the time of our infancy. Dress wearing in this case, however is none other than an essential part of the sugar cane cutter’s working attire. Dresses, traditionally a female article, associated with modesty and in modern times viewed as an encumbrance and handicap in a male driven work environment, here takes on a role of protector for male pants worn underneath the dress and acquires attributes of assistance and support.

Did you know that layering and dress wearing also helps to protect these workers against snakes and grass cuts.

#pastelart #pastelportrait #workfashion #hardpastel #softpastel #chalkpastel #portraitart #migrantworker #fashionessentials

#update #pastelartist #chalkpastel #hardpastel #so

#update #pastelartist #chalkpastel #hardpastel #softpastel #southafricanartist

Detail of the upper part of “Soul” 136cm x 56

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Contact Info

+27 82 218 1906

Pretoria South Africa

lena@lenahugo.com

Copyright Lena Hugo