THE NEW YORK TIMES
By Meara Sharma
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOKtab3UuXrWfYU2DLUApXsOS-pWGJ5ypQllGUyvspV_ueGyXDxV7gSUrSVsEHfUHo5Ed38rTvM7_cJtcUqIHhA024ErQ1OJA7AQRWrRAKkQDwQdF0yFK6cdnqWmV7ji_8glUtLVjjwPM/s400/image0-769085.jpeg) |
Samson’s recent work plays on ceremony and spirituality while also subverting stereotypical African imagery. Stephanie Veldman |
In the South African artist
Cinga Samson’s “Ivory” series of paintings — five lush, ethereal, figurative canvases made in 2018 — a young black man in jeans and an ornate gold-colored jacket stands in the middle of the 4-by-3 foot compositions, reveling amid tropical ferns, twisting vines and bird-of-paradise plants against a moody backdrop of rocks and sea. In each painting, the setting is surreal but the figure’s stance is coolly elegant; his eyes, pupil-less white orbs, suggest an inner reverie. Seemingly unconcerned with the viewer, he projects a strong presence, at once inviting and enigmatic, joyful and antagonistic. This is a world that belongs, unequivocally, to him. [
More]
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu3mCLw-PynByMW2cJX86BcF4xKUTzFcKr6Cu6fMkPhRoxE0hJtb8-lMfTFv9z5v4dxDqRAe161dEzRD2fO0qJ0aL_4DcU6IX-67HO29s2Wa4Ni5cFKyCZs6X2iB1bJIS2iGpbxdxiWBA/s400/18tmag-samson-slide-E4TK-jumbo.jpg) |
The artist Cinga Samson in his studio in Cape Town.CStephanie Veldman |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxCI-JfvQCcm5fb2UFlXO9oVXTiSRQcmspjAf7lVkrVLyZraAYJqpztcU6Q3dzQjwMfCNhBPONA_PcJi142ohuouBsi9DD2iFjAuB8InbrNr2ZZxT4EFKhu8BK-wMBSyY9LUNC7yLwYX0/s400/18tmag-samson-slide-9UBX-jumbo.jpg) |
Samson’s recent work plays on ceremony and spirituality while also subverting stereotypical African imagery. Stephanie Veldman |