Jack Kabangu Is Building Bridges Across the Unknown
Photos by Beers London Photography.
The Zambian-born artist Jack Kabangu has an uncanny gift for building bridges across the unknown.
Spanning cultures, borders, and genres, the faces he paints speak to us in a visual language so bold and vibrant we can’t ignore their story. Similar to Jackson Pollock — the great Abstract Expressionist who used the force of his entire body to paint, Kabangu’s art is likewise a physical response to his environment and culture. He is often working on multiple artworks at the same time, walking around his studio while throwing paint on the canvases. “I like to be in a zone or in a vibe when I work. I like to hear loud music,” Jack tells me, “there is a lot of energy going on, and I think it's because that's a huge part of me as a person.”
His latest exhibition, ‘Smiling Through The Pain’ transforms this powerful energy into repeated motifs and imagery of black faces, subverting the stereotypes of the last century while creating new modes of black representation in the process. But breaking free from the constraints of the past isn’t something Jack is trying to push on his audiences. His concern is his process: “Through this process, in life or in creative works, nothing goes straight: sometimes it goes up and sometimes it goes down. I feel that is what life is about. You need to feel pain and you need to feel that before you can feel very happy.”
Jack has defied odds since first beginning to paint just three years ago, exhibiting in Miami, LA, Tokyo, and Copenhagen, leading up to his first UK-based exhibition this April at Beers London.
While gazing at the different shades of onyx and ebony Jack uses for rich skin tones, or the gooey pink and emerald eyes, the afterglow of his intense process is settled into a calming reflection of someone staring back at you. Every composition is well-balanced. Every face, every dreadlock, every set of lips and pair of eyes is given its unique flourish of vibrant colour. You are looking at a celebration of individuality, of what it means to be a unique and colourful soul walking around this planet.
Thank you for taking the time to talk and congratulations on your latest exhibition.
Thank you.
You were born in Zambia and moved to Copenhagen at the age of nine. Do you think the differences between these cultures has informed your artistic practice?
That's a good question. I have only lived in Copenhagen for three years. I originally came to a small town in Denmark, the town I was raised in. I moved to Copenhagen because of my work. Of course my past must influence me in a way but it's not something I think about in my everyday life. It's not something I try to add to my work on purpose. I think because my past is such a huge part of me, I can't just let it go and put it to the side. I always have it in everything I do.
I had a life in Zambia and my upbringing has given me another way to view things. It could be in art, it could be in music, it could even be how I approach people. I have learned something from my culture, even in how I was raised as a person. My parents are Congolese. They were refugees from Congo so they have multiple cultures and they gave that to me. In a way I add that to me as a person and in my work.
I have read somewhere that you like to paint with your hands, which is quite non-traditional. Do you think this contributes to the visceral energy your paintings capture?
I like to be in a zone or in a vibe when I work. I like to hear loud music. I like to be in the moment. When I walk around the studio, I am working on a lot of different canvases at the same time and I like to use my body and throw paint on the canvases. There is a lot of energy going on, and I think it's because that's a huge part of me as a person. I have always liked to use my body and my hands. It's a normal way for me to paint. I don't think there is another way. This is the only way that makes sense for me because I am used to working this way, even in other places.
Music and other forms of media are big influences in your work, not just other painters. Who do you like to listen to in the studio?
I listen to a lot of different music, but my introduction to Hip-hop was Lil Wayne. Since then, the way I understand music has expanded. For me Hip-hop isn't just one thing. The samples gave me an understanding in Jazz and Soul. The culture in general is huge. I only understand a little part of it, and that little part has had a huge impact on me. Through Lil Wayne I discovered Kanye West and Tyler the Creator and Rick Owens. Through them there was an understanding that these are people who build bridges for me.
Is it important for you to create new modes of black representation?
Of course it is, but I think it's the same answer when you asked me if being Zambian is a part of my work. It's not something I am trying to do on purpose, but being the person I am or being in the environments I am in has had that effect.
I remember when I began doing this I searched for inspiration in people who looked like me, or who had the same interests as me. I think because of that, some people can see themselves in my work and maybe they think to themselves “I can do something the same way he has done it and maybe I can end up in the same place as him.” But I don't try to push that in my work.
The title of the exhibition is ‘Smiling Through The Pain’ which is poetic and beautiful. Your work feels quite uplifting and life-affirming. Where did the title for the exhibition come from?
I am happy that's what you take from the work. That's great. Well, I think in life there is a balance to everything. When I create something, I am more conscious about the process than the end result. Through this process, in life or in creative works, nothing goes straight: sometimes it goes up and sometimes it goes down. I feel that is what life is about. You need to feel pain and you need to feel that before you can feel very happy.
The hovering, face-like forms you paint are quite visceral, yet the compositions feel balanced. What is it that you set out to capture when beginning one of these faces? Are they faces?
Yes, most of the time they are faces. When I was young in Zambia I would watch this TV show called Shaka Zulu. I think it was a South African TV show but I used to watch it in Zambia. Shaka Zulu was like my childhood superhero. I think the first time I tried to paint him I only painted the face. He had long dreads, a dark face and he looked very scary but he was a superhero and he was helping people. I saw myself in him, so I tried to do a portrait of him. I liked how it looked and I became more and more involved.
How long have you painted?
Three years.
Were you into art as a kid?
I was more into music and fashion when I was young.
That’s crazy. You have had a meteoric rise in the art world since you first began. How does this attention feel for you? Is it something you dreamed of?
Somehow I have always had trust in myself that I would accomplish something like this in some capacity. I never guessed it would be in art. But I have always had a passion for music and fashion. I wanted to be a master in fashion or in music. I wanted to express myself in that way. I didn’t expect it to be in art, but I have always had this drive.
What do you think it is about your art that audiences resonate with?
It's totally different from person to person. When I am attending exhibitions, I meet people who experience my artwork. It’s funny how people see different things in it. I think that's the best part of it, a lot of people having a different experience than myself. Sometimes people see something colorful or positive. Sometimes people have a negative vibe. I try to balance my work with the darkness and the light. Sometimes people see the darkness before the light. But I am not sure what people like about the work. I think maybe it’s personal. Maybe it's because it looks good. I am not sure. I don’t know (laughs). I don't think I should know. I think if I knew, it wouldn’t be a good thing.