Guest Curator Roger Sivuyile Lupuwana

Roger Sivuyile Lupuwana is the founder and editor of ISYOURS magazine, a platform covering and celebrating independent culture. “I’m constantly surrounded by brilliant musicians, artists, photographers and writers so I wanted to make a contribution to that world and document underrepresented creatives,” he says. Roger is also co-host of Nothing Major on The Other Radio with recording artist and one of his best pals Mx Blouse. He’s also one half of creative production and consulting agency Big and Simple with Binwe Adebayo. This year he was appointed Chief Culture Officer at The Mighty Fine hotel (coming soon). And we haven’t even mentioned his day job in advertising.

Each of these roles requires Roger to know the beat of South Africa’s creative pulse by heart. He was an obvious choice as our latest guest curator. We asked him to do some window shopping on Latitudes to choose the artworks he’d most want to take home.

Thalente Khomo, Memories of childhood, 2017

Archival print on fine art rag. Price: R3,300. Presented by August House. ENQUIRE.

Jozua Gerrard, Woman in White, 2020. 

Acrylic paint and marker on canvas. Presented by WORLDART. ENQUIRE.

Romuald Hazoumé, BB from the series Kpayoland

C-type digital print. Presented by October Gallery. ENQUIRE.

Rai Gandra, RILF - Revolutionaries I'd like to fuck, 2016

C print from digital file. R 2,500. ENQUIRE.

Kim Makin, Other (a series) I, 2017

Archival Giclée Print on Hahnemühle Photo Rag. Price: R 5,200. Presented by Re-Curators. ENQUIRE.

What kind of art are you drawn to personally? 

When it comes to visual art I’d say I find myself almost obsessed with what others would call “trashy Instagram art”, but whatever. Digital art or any other new media allows for a constant flow of emerging artists, new ideas and techniques that were often not considered before. There’s much more access to so many people in an art world that can be quite exclusionary and elitist. And I’m not just talking vaporwave posters and glitch art. What I’m drawn to ranges from point-and-shoot archives from underground queer rave to collage art with Grindr memes, boys kissing boys, cityscapes and vulgar graffiti, dick drawings and Disney princesses, Teletubby bad bads, 3D art meets pop culture. It’s a fabulous juxtaposition of ideas and worlds where anything goes and I love it.

Has your taste changed over the years? 

My taste changes all the time, because my mind changes all the time. At first, I was always drawn to posters or illustrated prints with crazy characters, bright colours or cheeky texts. I still mostly own illustrations but the more I take things less seriously the more I want to collect more mixed-media and photographic pieces.

Do you have a favourite artwork, poster or photograph in your home? 

I bought a print from Hannah Shone called “I Don’t Get Bananas Really” (2017) from her second solo exhibition “Fantasma” at No End Gallery. I hate bananas, and it’s a great reminder of our friendship and how we truly get each other. I also have this one Daniel Ting Chong piece that was a birthday gift from my friend Angie Batis Durant a while back. It’s this snake that hangs boldly over our living room. It’s quite trippy if you’ve had a wine or two, but it’s the best.

Please tell us about your selection from Latitudes: is there a theme? 

Not really. I don’t think there is a need to be super profound about art. That’s when I find you can truly get to enjoy it, laugh about it and feel free whether you’re the artist, curator, or collector. It’s just a collection of what I would want in my home, how I think my personality would come out and a mix of artists I love. I thought a diverse mix of established and POC artists is also important. My partner (who is also an artist) knows my taste well and helped me narrow it down to the final five.

Follow all Roger gets up to at @rogerisyours.