Cinga Samson

Cinga Samson’s haunting, large-scale figurative paintings feature worlds of enigma and mystery despite their careful, intimate focus on the subjects at the center. Samson draws on his native South Africa for inspiration, portraying people he knows and subjects who resemble himself with a sense of the superstition and spirituality that informed his upbringing in the town of Ethembeni. The artist, who cites Paul Gauguin and Andrew Wyeth as forebears, often references sketches or photographs as he builds his compositions. He adorns his Black subjects—whom he paints alone or in group scenes—with youthful, contemporary outfits and adornments, though the focus remains on their blank white eyes, which suggest a state of reverie or trance. Samson has exhibited extensively in Cape Town, Berlin, New York, Minneapolis, Cologne, and Oaxaca, Mexico. In 2020, he was featured in The Artsy Vanguard. His work has sold for up to six figures at auction.