An Alluring Conversation with Cristiano Mangovo

Cristiano Mangovo (b. 1982) is an Angolan visual artist currently based between Lisbon, Portugal, and Cabinda, Angola. As a child, he fled the Angolan Civil War to the Democratic Republic of Congo, where he went on to study at the Academy Des Beaux-Arts. Many of his paintings touch on the cultural differences between his two homes. The artist’s experiences in Angola have led him to advocate for social and environmental change through his artwork. His unique style combines surreal and expressionistic elements, painting distorted, multi-faceted faces, often with two mouths. The emphasis is less on the representation of the individual and more on the evocation of personality, movement, and the convergence of figure and object to showcase Mangovo’s thought. By including multiple eyes and mouths on his figures, Mangovo represents vocal figures who are alert and open.

He frequently discusses the relationship between humans and nature and showcases an ideal world of overgrown lushness in his paintings. In this world, the homeostatic relationship between humans and Earth is reborn. Mangovo remarks, “I continuously question myself on the way humans claim and display their superiority over other living creatures. This thought has seeped through my work for a certain amount of time now, as I seek to integrate and express the emotions that other living beings could feel. Doing so requires what might seem like a dive into the imaginary, when it is in fact a simple, very real change of perspective – one that asks that we consider any form of life as having its own value, one to be respected.”

Mangovo's works have been exhibited at Expo Milan (Italy), Hangar - Centro de investigaçao artistica (Lisbon), and he has also participated in international fairs such as 1-54 Paris (January 2021). In 2014 he was awarded the Mirella Antognoli Prize by the Italian Embassy and Alliance Française. He won the ENSA Arte prize in 2018 for best visual artist of Angola.  Cristiano has participated in over 50 exhibitions and performances in Angola, Portugal, France, Italy, South Africa, Zimbabwe, D.R. Congo, Belgium, Luxembourg, and the US.

I had the pleasure of asking Cristiano about the themes of politics in his work, what lessons he has learned about humanity, and how he interacts with people that have helped him understand himself as an artist.

UZOMAH: How do you carry images of escaping the Angolan war in your art?

CRISTIANO: The politics of the old regime was very authoritarian. When someone protested, they were imprisoned, and, as a result, the population was always too scared to speak. I went to Zimbabwe to do a residency and, while there, started speaking in depth with the historian and curator, Valerie Kabov, about my work. From these discussions, I decided to introduce politics into my work. I began painting people with two mouths, one controlled by fear and one speaking freely.

U: Why is it vital to incorporate themes of politics in your artwork?

C: A long time ago, I began to understand that politics is the first pillar of a nation – it is the instrument that can drive development or, mishandled, lead to under-development. Those who lead people must know how to listen to them too. As a young artist, I visited artists’ ateliers and began my studies at the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Kinshasa. There was a lot going on in the Congo and Angola. Social life was difficult. We were faced with the problems of war,

violence, inequality, and global racism. I saw my colleagues and professors painting landscapes, market scenes, portraits, and still lives – and I did the same. No one was creating works exploring the other side of the curtain where the rest of the population lives. I began working through social themes to bring the voices of the deprived to galleries and into public discourse in a peaceful way, like a carrier pigeon because it was rare to see any politicians walking in the streets.

We Take Care of You (64 x 48 in): This painting shows humans’ protection of nature, as symbolized by the bird. The central figure releases the bird, allowing it freedom after having held it down for so long.

U: What made you want to be an artist?

C: I was born into a family where we all had a natural gift for drawing – a gift from God. In my early years, my big brother was my main influence. I wanted so badly to draw like him, and I would run up and ask for a drawing, but he would draw me something quick, not nearly of the same quality as the work he made for himself. One day, disappointed, I decided to take it upon myself to make the drawings I wanted. The love of drawing in my veins gave me a reason to wake up every day and transform a blank page into a colorful image, and I made rapid progress. I have dreamed of being a reference in art since childhood, without stopping to consider the lifestyle that art can bring to those who make it. So, I joined a group of like-minded young illustrators. We went to movie theaters to copy film posters. At the time, our heroes were Jean Claude Van-damme, Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Lee, Chuck Norris, and Jackie Chang – Hollywood stars and Walt Disney inspired our hand-drawn reproductions. One day, my mother found one of my gouache paintings of Stallone’s Cobra. She was shocked by my progress and immediately signed me up for the Académie des Beaux-Arts. It was one of the happiest days of my life, launching me into the career I have today.

U: Your first solo exhibit, “Body: Instrument and File,” is on view at the Chase Contemporary. How did the exhibit and its theme come together?

C: Yes, it’s the first time I’ve been invited to do a residency and exhibit here in New York after having been invited to do so in several other countries. As I anticipate doing a performance at the opening, it will be my first performance in New York as well. This partnership is very important for my career. It’s an honor to have been invited to a great gallery, which I hold in high esteem, by the director and curator, Isabel Sullivan, and the gallery owner, Bernie Chase. When Chase Contemporary proposed this project, I accepted immediately. I am bringing my artistic performances to a huge, multicultural city, which is important because my work is based on society, the body, and the environment. We began preparations last year to bring the project to light. The residency program takes place in the gallery itself, which is a great way to create an exhibition. It is always advantageous for an artist to focalize their art-making in a creative environment. For me, an observer who is inspired by everything that moves, it helps to live and work here for the duration of the show, getting to know the friendly gallery staff and meeting artists from New York, like Angel Ortiz, a friend of Keith Haring and Basquiat. We built the theme Body: Instrument and File, a contemporary narrative that explores the creative capacities of the human body and mind in different cultures, demonstrating the multiple functions of the body. I consider it a call for acceptance, harmony, respect, and mutual exchange between cultures. The message is that we are all equal – nothing differentiates us beyond borders and language. You have lived in so many parts of the world. How do you depict each culture in your artwork?

Motivators (58 x 73.5 in): The central figure, supported from the sides by other figures, thinks of the environment. The humans use the leaves (for shelter, oxygen, sustenance), without destroying the plant, while also giving it water and supporting its growth. The personification of a plant is a way to respect and elevate the non-human subject.

U: Can you discuss the influence of migrating to the Congo at such a young age?

C: Having lived and traveled in many parts of the world reinforces my efforts to engage as an artist in the creation of scenes of daily life, to paint situations that concern an entire population and their desires, and to be a conveyor of messages (a carrier pigeon) or a mediator. Because I have learned that even outside of Africa, humankind is the same, and situations are almost identical –animals, plants, and birds are all the same. We share the same planet, composed of the weak and the strong. Love and consideration engender equality. I believe that, in order to be strong, it isn’t necessary to dominate others – it is important to sustain them with love. I believe that the exploitation of the weak by the powerful continues even in the twenty-first century because while the system has changed in appearance, the spirit of domination continues. I speak specifically of the domination of African countries by the West. The West, which is stronger, still uses organized systems to overpower Africa. I learned that it is difficult to raise one’s voice and reclaim one’s rights when one is dominated in this way. What can be done? We just have to dare! But my greatest motivation is my dream to be a great artist, like my teachers, Papa Nsimambote, Henri Kalama, the artist Vitoria Teixeira, and great artists from history like Basquiat, Picasso, Francis Bacon, and others.

U: What lessons have you learned about humanity and how you interact with people that helped you understand yourself as an artist?

C: I learned to ask myself: Who am I? Why was I born? And what is my role in helping those around me? I learned that one has to be the first to love oneself, to give oneself importance, to give oneself value and discipline in order to progress. I learned to accept criticism, listen a lot, speak little, and do good. I want to share what I have with others: the philosophy of a fruit tree. Not to amass too much or be greedy, but rather to be kind and simple. Many people help me understand my art, but there are good and bad critics. First, I listen, analyze, and observe. With time, when I uncover the person’s true face, I decide if I ought to continue listening or interrupt. There are many colors in art.

Piano Man and Marimba Man #1 (70 x 50 in): Two musicians play together, eyes on each other and on their own creation, harmonizing.

U: What have you discovered about art politics and the movement of the political arts in the fine arts world?

C: I know that art is a form of expression used to manifest, reclaim one’s rights, inform, and prophesy. I often say that art is a peaceful instrument for conveying a message. Since I started doing performance art, often in situ, I began understanding the separation between the two disciplines – painting and performance. Today, when I see movements by women, bare-chested, infiltrating meetings of politicians, art museums, and public spaces to reclaim, inform, and denounce, I think that that is free expression. It is the strategy of the young to confront politicians in their places of comfort. That inspires me even more because it is for the good of all that these artists protest. In the fine art world, these movements exist. I am reminded of my fellow students’ performances – a relatively recent art form for Luanda — that denounced issues surrounding social decline. It is an art form that promotes awareness, and I especially like to see it in newspapers and on television because a message can reach so many people that way.

U: How does African art that uses politics as a theme differ from the rest?

C: There is a delay between Africa and the rest of the world. I know that prehistoric Africans began creating art at the same time as the rest of the world. We have caves and stone art on our continent, and plenty of work was brought to the West in colonial times. Art in Africa was made for rituals, initiations, the connection between people and higher powers, and for daily use (like goblets, brushes, and kings’ pipes). Compared to the West, art didn’t have monetary value at first. It was not shown in museums to be observed and appreciated by tourists. So Africa borrowed from Western politics in their new appreciation and conservation of art and has recently become more organized in that regard. I’m happy to see Africans invest in big construction projects for artists in residences and museums. I want to encourage this kind of progress and send a message to my fellow Africans that we ought to invest in art on our continent, to give it greater value, and to attract visitors from all four corners of the earth.

For more information about Cristiano and his artwork please visit his site. You can also find him on Instagram. A preview of his exhibit can be found on the exhibition showcase here. Please visit Chase Contemporary for more details about hIs exhibition here.