I Have No Body I Am Somebody
Mindy Solomon is pleased to present I Have No Body I Am Somebody, the first solo exhibition at the gallery by Zambian-born, Copenhagen-based artist Jack Kabangu.
Featuring a series of portraits rendered in his iconic, self-taught style, Kabangu introduces a dynamic and psychologically charged visual language. His figures — elongated, introspective, and subtly fragmented — exist in spaces that feel both intimate and unsettled, mirroring the layered nature of identity and displacement. Kabangu describes his practice:
“With these works, I focus on belonging, with particular attention to the body as something that remembers and carries experience. I start from the idea that the body holds traces of the places we have been and the lives we have lived. I am drawn to the moment when something familiar is moved out of its original context — when traditions shift and routines change.
My interest in this comes from my own story. I am the child of Congolese refugees, raised in Lusaka, Zambia, and later relocated to Denmark. At the same time, I felt that I lived a second life through film, music, and the internet. I was connected to Western culture long before I physically became part of it. This experience created a feeling of both belonging and standing outside at the same time — a sense of division, but also connection between different cultures. It is this dual feeling that I return to in the works. The exhibition reflects on the body as a place where history, loss, and curiosity exist side by side. On how we carry our experiences with us, and how they shift as we move between places and contexts.”
In I Have No Body I Am Somebody, Kabangu positions the body not as a fixed entity, but as a living archive, one that absorbs geography, memory, media, and migration. His portraits hold tension between presence and absence, interiority and projection, revealing how identity is continually reshaped through movement across borders, cultures, and imagined worlds. The exhibition invites viewers to consider the body as both witness and storyteller, a site where belonging is never singular, but layered, fluid, and in constant negotiation.
About Jack Kabangu
Born in 1996 in Zambia, Copenhagen based Jack Kabangu is a self-taught visual artist. His very peculiar style is full of vibrant colors and energetic lines. His works combine figurative elements with resonant colors and abstract shapes, reflecting the fusion of contemporary art and his African heritage. While drawing comparisons to abstract expressionism and feeling the Jackson Pollock spontaneity, Kabangu is presenting a completely distinct form of contemporary expression. The artist prefers to use his fingers, spatulas, scrapers, and paint brushes while using a painting technique that involves black paint running on the canvas and bold background colors.
Born in 1996 in Zambia, Copenhagen based Jack Kabangu is a self-taught visual artist. His very peculiar style is full of vibrant colors and energetic lines. His works combine figurative elements with resonant colors and abstract shapes, reflecting the fusion of contemporary art and his African heritage. While drawing comparisons to abstract expressionism and feeling the Jackson Pollock spontaneity, Kabangu is presenting a completely distinct form of contemporary expression. The artist prefers to use his fingers, spatulas, scrapers, and paint brushes while using a painting technique that involves black paint running on the canvas and bold background colors.
