Personal Affects: Power and Poetics in Contemporary South African Art showcases artists on the cutting edge of contemporary South African production, most of whom have received little or no previous exposure in New York. A common thread running throughout the exhibition is the highly personal point of departure of the artists’ working methods, such as the use of the body, personal histories, and the construction of personal mythologies. Moving beyond the confines of identity politics towards subtler investigations of agency and affect, this exhibition looks at works of art as the powerful and poetic expressions that artists leave behind.

Personal Affects features an extraordinary line-up of seventeen artists working in diverse media, including sculpture, drawing, photography, painting, installation, video, performance, and dance. The artworks represent artists’ responses to a weeklong stay in New York and visits with the international team of curators.