​Contemporary South African Art

Article credits to: LifeWithArt.com

Sabela Judas Mahlangu (1951 - )

Mahlangu was born in 1951 in Brakpan and after completing his matric at KwaPhakama High School in Springs he studied for two years at the Rorke's Drift Art Centre from 1972 to 1974 when he obtained his certificate. He returned to Kwa Thema Township outside Springs to set-up a graphic studio in his home where he worked with colleague and fellow art student, Vuminkosi Zulu. He exhibited in 'Art South Africa Art Today' in 1973 and 1975. In 1976 he participated in an exhibition held at New York's Brooklyn Museum entitled 'Black South Africa: Contemporary Graphics'. He held his first solo exhibitions in 1979 in Johannesburg and Durban. Mahlangu was a member of the Soweto Art Society. His work has an atmospheric quality showing intricate detail on an intimate scale. He enjoyed the subtle effects he could achieve by producing aquatints with various grey gradient and used pattern and texture to enliven his compositions of mainly landscapes, urban scenes and religious themes. Mahlangu mastered the process of overprinting colors in turn from separate plates and he made his own aquatint rosin. His work can be seen in many public galleries.