Cinga Samson’s Pupilless Figures at White Cube

The crazy and scrupulous detail of Cinga Samson‘s oil paintings has arrived at White Cube Mason’s Yard in London. They feature in the artist’s first U.K. exhibition, Nzulu yemfihlakalo (7 July–26 August 2023), showcasing new work that unites realism with fantasy.

In paintings such as Uqobo lwakhe and Ebembe ya Nioka, Esilaka Somote (both 2023), shadowy scenes are populated by figures with white glazed eyes. Their ghostly stares deter our gaze and evoke a realm that feels at once dreamlike and hallucinatory.

In conversation with Ocula Magazine in 2020, Samson explained his curiosity for pupilless eyes. ‘What I love about the eyes and absence of pupils is that they convey a dreamlike awareness, as opposed to a gaze that connects them beyond the canvas’ frame.’

Still, intricate detail composing the surrounding landscape—for instance, scale-like patterning on trees and fine white lines tracing fronds of plants—brings us back to the familiar. Nature is positioned as an equal to human form, neither detracting from the other.

Samson completed this recent series in his Cape Town studio. References to his immediate environment are clear throughout, from bouquets of proteas (the national flower of South Africa) to backdrops of nearby mountains and a motif of a giant sisal plant.

It’s a staggering experience to see the detail of each painting up close—the gauzy white veils, attention paid to every gym shoe and shirt, tactile furry coats (both dog and human), the weightiness of each gold chain, and how the artist works the foliage behind.