Lwando Dlamini, a visual artist- born in 1992 in the Eastern Cape, and raised in the Western Cape- has always created work based on his own lived experiences. Working primarily with oil paint and mixed media, Dlamini brings attention to the injustice of police brutality in townships all over South Africa. He explores the human body and the violent bodily harm he has faced through illness and near-death experiences. He stitches together these subject matters in his work and ignites conversation around his awareness of the broken body, paying particular attention to memory and the loss of it.

The ongoing theme of personal violence is something that he has experienced since early childhood. At the age of ten, he was paralyzed and survived a prolonged coma. Ten years later, he was brutally attacked by corrupt police, resulting in a severely damaged cornea. These aspects of fragility become apparent in tragic occurrences and remind us of the inescapability and unpredictability of death. Dlamini is thus interested in both the meaning and the volatility of our existence. His works have clarity and precision that evoke compassion and understanding in the viewer, while still questioning what lies beyond the surface.

In 2017, Dlamini graduated with a Diploma in Fine Art from the Ruth Prowse School of Art. He currently works and lives in Cape Town.

Dlamini participated in a group exhibit in 2019 titled tete-a-tete at the Absa Gallery in Johannesburg. He was among the young emerging visual artists who were selected to be part of the RMB talent unlocked programme in association with both the VAN SA and the Assemblage, in the 2019 Turbine Art Fair.

Dlamini has participated in group shows at the FNB Joburg Art Fair in 2018 and 2020 as well as various other group shows. He was awarded the 2018 David Koloane award from the Bag Factory Artist Studios and attended the Artist Career Boot-Camp in association with the National Arts Council. Dlamini made it through to the semi-finals of the prestigious Absa L’atelier Art competition- 2018.

In 2017 Dlamini was also the photographer and chaperone for Italian artist in residence, Valentina Colella at the Ruth Prowse School of Art in association with Everard Read and the Centro di Luigi Sarro. He has participated in the Thuphelo group exhibition at the University of Stellenbosch Gallery, Western Cape and the drawing workshop at the Greatmore Artist Studio, Woodstock, Cape Town.

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2022
'Learning to be -less afraid- braver', EBONY/CURATED, Cape Town, South Africa

2020
‘Triumph’, EBONY/CURATED, Cape Town, South Africa

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2026
'A Very Loop Street Winter', EBONY/CURATED, Cape Town, South Africa

2022
‘New Day’, Graham Contemporary, Johannesburg, South Africa
‘A New Wave’, Graham Contemporary, Johannesburg, South Africa

2021
‘In [the] Loop’, EBONY/CURATED, Cape Town, South Africa
'8x8', EBONY/CURATED, Cape Town, South Africa
Open City: Everything was beautiful and nothing hurt at FNB Art Joburg 2021, Curated by Anelisa Mangcu and Jana Terblanche, Keyes Art Mile, Johannesburg, South Africa
FNB Art Joburg, EBONY/CURATED (Online edition)
Investec Cape Town Art Fair, EBONY/CURATED (Online edition)
1-54 New York, EBONY/CURATED (Online edition)

2020
AAGA annual African Galleries Now online edition powered by Artsy (Online edition)
FNB Art Joburg (Online edition)
Intersect Chicago edition of SOFA Expo (Online edition)
Investec Cape Town Art Fair, EBONY/CURATED, Cape Town, South Africa

2019
‘UP COMING’, Turbine Art Fair, Johannesburg, South Africa
Independent Booth, Latitudes Art Fair, Johannesburg, South Africa
‘Tete-a-tete’, Absa Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa

2018
FNB Art Joburg, Sandton Convention Centre , Johannesburg, South Africa
‘Line and Gesture’, Bag Factory Artist Studios, Johannesburg, South Africa
‘Thuphelo’, curated by Valerie Geselev, University of Stellenbosch Gallery, Stellenbosch, South Africa
Drawing workshop exhibition, Great More Studios, Cape Town, South Africa

2017
‘Inzondelelo (the act of never giving up)’, Graduation exhibition at Ruth Prowse School of Art, Cape Town, South Africa
‘Sorry! Please Try Again.’ – Pop Up Group Show curated by Brett Charles Seiler, the Palms Centre, Cape Town, South Africa

2016
‘One. Zero. Seven’, Pop Up Group Show curated by Brett Charles Seiler, Cape Town, South Africa