In this body of work, Nxumalo examines the ailing local tourism industry as he continues to interrogate the state of post-democratic dilapidation in South Africa.

‘The work interprets what I feel is supposed to be in our country,’ Nxumalo says. ‘We are a lucky country because a lot of people want to invest their money here. They invest it and it just disappears. We don’t see what is happening.’

‘As an artist, you don’t sleep. It’s like you pretend to sleep. All these pictures are like dreams, they come and pass, come and pass. In the morning, you select and you just do [paint] it. Our leaders haven’t got a dream and a vision of how to satisfy the people of this country. Unfortunately, our government doesn’t want to attend exhibitions in order to see what the people are thinking about, how they feel. This is an expression [of that].’

The exhibition consists of a range of small, detailed pieces depicting the flora and natural beauty of KwaZulu Natal and South Africa, interspersed with local and national government infrastructure that jar against the lush landscapes they serve. There is also a new large-scale piece spanning five and a half metres; titled The Cape Town Holiday Flats, the intricate sprawling cityscape alludes to Cape Town’s glossy appeal as the ultimate luxury tourist destination. The grim reality of the Cape Flats and the area’s legacy of poverty and violence are a world away from the beaches, restaurants and tourist sites on the other side of the mountain.

Nxumalo continues to compose works that are simultaneously aesthetically pleasing, yet deeply and inherently unsettling in the probing questions they ask and leave unanswered.