The strongly religious Johannes Segogela creates cautionary tableaux that combine small painted wood figures with other mixed media elements to illustrate his beliefs. Some, like Satan’s Fresh Meat Market (1996), envision dire fates for those straying from the straight and narrow: miscreants risk being roasted on the spit and gnawed on by demons. Segogela’s tableaux are intended as allegories, comments on South African society, and thus during and immediately after the apartheid years, the figure of the devil might also have been read as a metaphor for the hard-line Nationalist government.
Recently, however, Satan has taken on a new role in the mythology of Segogela. A 2007 sculpture of a blackened Satan carrying a woman in his arms is entitled Lesbian Kidnapped by Satan. In South Africa same sex marriages are legal, but it seems that Segogela, like many conservative Christians, does not approve of this new tolerance and continues to believe that homosexuality is sinful.
Segogela, born in 1936 in Sekhukhuneland in the Limpopo province of South Africa, first came to Johannesburg to work as a boilermaker, employed at the new Standard Bank Centre, headquarters of the financial corporation that is one of the leading sponsors of the arts in South Africa, and which years later would invite him to be guest artist with a solo exhibition at the 1995 Standard Bank National Arts Festival in Grahamstown.
His upward trajectory in the art world began about 1987, when Linda Givon of the Goodman Gallery in Johannesburg was shown a small unpainted wooden figure a friend had bought from a craft stand near Pretoria. Givon sent a message that she would like to meet the artist, and soon after, Segogela arrived at the gallery with some of his work. He has been represented by the Goodman Gallery ever since.
For those desiring an insight into the artist’s inspiration behind a particular piece, a biblical reference is sometimes supplied. For instance, a kneeling and shackled demon has “Revelation 20. 1–15” painted on the base.
Segogela does not limit himself to religious themes, however; he has also brought his own particular vision to bear on the ongoing history of South Africa, with a long series of elaborate tableaux on such subjects as the exclusionary politics of apartheid, the voting processes that led to democracy, a lineup of the national soccer team, Bafana Bafana, tea parties, conferences with many figures seated round a table, and rituals such as weddings.
The charm and accessibility of Segogela’s small carved and painted figures with their slightly stiff but carefully observed body language have brought him continued success.
Satan’s Fresh Meat Market 1993
Painted wood, tin, and stainless steel
Height: 58 cm
Collection: The Pigozzi Collection, Geneva
© Johannes Segogela
Apartheid’s Funeral 1993
Painted wood, mixd media
61 cm (height) dimensions variable
Collection: Fowler Museum, UCLA, Los Angeles
Nkosi Sikelele 1996
Wood, paint
Dimensions of tallest figure: 35 x 5.9 x 7 cm
Collection: Standard Bank African Art Collection (Wits Art Galleries), Johannesburg
Image courtesy of Wits Art Galleries
Photographer: Wayne Oosthuizen
© Johannes Segogela