Lehmann Maupin returns to West Bund for the fifth time with a solo presentation of signature works by Nicholas Hlobo, alongside a selection of new and recent works by McArthur Binion, Billy Childish, Mandy El-Sayegh, Lee Bul, Marilyn Minter, Tammy Nguyen, Arcmanoro Niles, OSGEMEOS, Lari Pittman, Alex Prager, and David Salle. Together, these artists explore art historical, communal, and personal narratives to assert a sense of place and identity across cultural contexts.

A selection of works by South African artist Nicholas Hlobo anchors the presentation in booth 1F. In these works, Hlobo engages themes of self-discovery and invention, exploring the intersections of his race, gender, and identity–specifically, his identity as a Black, gay man–within the context of his South African heritage. On each canvas, the artist renders semi-anthropomorphic forms through acrylic, leather, rubber, and ribbon, synthesizing the historically-gendered mediums to create amalgamated forms that feel at once familiar, alien, and ancient. Grounded in thick, expressionist mark making or in solid, tactile material and animated through outward movement and fine linework, Hlobo’s creatures exist somewhere between reality and imagination. The works lure viewers into a liminal space that both suggests and resists identification, asking them to navigate a new world free of category and hierarchy.