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Cinga Samson
Artist

Cinga Samson

Famoose for

Figurative oil paintings with dark palettes and ceremonial poses.

Self-portraits · Group scenes

Born
1986
Birthplace
Cape Town

More people

Leonardo da VinciPainting the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper.Frida KahloPainting self-portraits about identity, pain and Mexican life.Vincent van GoghPainting The Starry Night and Sunflowers.

Cinga Samson

South African painter whose self-portraits and group scenes have appeared in international exhibitions. His figures often have pupil-less eyes and a formal stillness.

Early life

Eastern Cape and Cape Town

Grew up between rural eThembeni and Cape Town. After school he joined the shared Isibane Creative Arts studio and learned alongside older artists.

Career

  1. Early practice

    Found materials

    Used salvaged supports when conventional canvases were unaffordable.

  2. 2021

    White Cube

    Began working with the gallery.

Selected work

Self-portraits

Developed a distinctive figurative vocabulary.

Group scenes

Arranged figures in large-scale, carefully posed compositions.

Beyond work

Family and independence

Has spoken about his father's encouragement to resist other people's expectations. Growing up amid Xhosa rituals and spiritual ceremonies also shaped the questions about existence that recur in his work.

Sources & photo creditBiography and career ↗Biographical references ↗Family and independence — biographical source ↗

Original photograph. Cropped and displayed in monochrome.

Photo: Guillaume Ziccarelli. CC BY-SA 4.0 · Original image. Cropped and displayed in monochrome.