A newcomer to New York from South Africa, Richard Hart’s work also alludes to unseen forces and ritualistic practices. Hart is inspired by the spiritual landscape of Africa, from witchcraft and Muti, to Shembe and the Zionist movement. Hart sees in African religions a sort of mash-up, a willingness to combine elements of Western religion, superstition, and traditional healing. It is this cut-and-paste attitude to religion and indeed life in Africa, that is central to Hart’s practice. Working in photography, painting, mixed media, video and assemblage, his pieces create a new and imagined hybrid of unknown rituals and mysterious totems.

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