Athi-Patra Ruga

Athi-Patra Ruga is a dynamic South African artist who uses performance, video, textiles, and printmaking to explore ideas of utopia, material and memory. His work explores the body in relation to sensuality, culture, and ideology, often creating cultural hybrids. He is well known in South Africa for his performance art pieces and is admired for the gutsy way in which he executes his work. I first heard about him from one of my friends who studies Fine Art at Rhodes and was interested in what it is that makes Ruga stand out. The first piece I saw was the one which he performed at my university Rhodes, during the Nation Art's Festival in 2012. The piece is titled "The future white women of Azania: The Prequal". The performance was described as "obscure" and "daring". I am amazed by this artist's passion and creativity.

 

photocredit: skattiewhat.blogspot.com

One of his most notable works is "...ellipses" which was done in three parts. This was about exploring how the body can be used as a tool in print making. The exhibition took place in the Michaelis Galleries at the University Of Cape Town with three female performers on three separate days

The artist and performers were covered in body paint and as they wrestled across the gallery walls, the performance was recorded live.

Ruga constantly plays with idea of taking on different personas and characters and said in an interview with timeslive in 2012: "I open up in my performances to explore myself and in so doing grow a character in a certain way. Then I usually kill that character off, but I think this performance will continue. There's a lot to understand.". Indeed there is, I am so keen to learn more about this artist and see more of what he has got to offer. To see more of his work and upcoming projects visit his website: http://athipatraruga.blogspot.com.

xx

Palesa