Jazz and Visual Abstraction: The Artworks of Mongezi Ncaphayi

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dc.contributor.advisorMonoa, Thabang
dc.contributor.authorKanyane, Thabang
dc.date.accessioned2025-11-25T12:19:16Z
dc.date.available2025-11-25T12:19:16Z
dc.date.issued2025
dc.date.updated2025-11-25T12:11:46Z
dc.description.abstractThis study aims to theorize the intersections between jazz music and abstraction in the visual arts. Its focus is to analyse phenomenological aspects in the selected works of South African contemporary visual artist and jazz saxophonist Mongezi Ncaphayi (b.1983), as a means to understand the nature of the relationship between the 'visual' and 'sonic' in his work. This includes: locating visual art practice within a wider constellation of imagery production, which I refer to as jazz visual culture, encompassing album cover art, photography, and graphic scores, to outline a culturally informed and constructed view of jazz and visual art practices. By paying particular attention to Ncaphayi's iconography and the explications of his work, this study aims to clarify the resonances between the visual and the sonic, while demonstrating the significance of both in the realm of signification. Although non-figurative abstraction lacks the conventional motifs found in figurative works, such as the depiction of instrumentation and portraiture, or even the symbolic stability of music notation, it continues to play a role in mediating the musical, aesthetic, and cultural meanings of jazz, despite its idiosyncrasy. This study is conducted by examining existing literature on jazz visual histories, criticism, music theory, and interviews with Mongezi Ncaphayi as research tools. Additionally, specific artworks are analysed to support an investigation of the cross- modal encounters between visual and sonic elements. These are then interpreted through the lenses of phenomenology, formalism, iconography, and black studies.
dc.identifier.apacitationKanyane, T. (2025). <i>Jazz and Visual Abstraction: The Artworks of Mongezi Ncaphayi</i>. (). University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Michaelis School of Fine Art. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/42335en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationKanyane, Thabang. <i>"Jazz and Visual Abstraction: The Artworks of Mongezi Ncaphayi."</i> ., University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Michaelis School of Fine Art, 2025. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/42335en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationKanyane, T. 2025. Jazz and Visual Abstraction: The Artworks of Mongezi Ncaphayi. . University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Michaelis School of Fine Art. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/42335en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Thesis / Dissertation AU - Kanyane, Thabang AB - This study aims to theorize the intersections between jazz music and abstraction in the visual arts. Its focus is to analyse phenomenological aspects in the selected works of South African contemporary visual artist and jazz saxophonist Mongezi Ncaphayi (b.1983), as a means to understand the nature of the relationship between the 'visual' and 'sonic' in his work. This includes: locating visual art practice within a wider constellation of imagery production, which I refer to as jazz visual culture, encompassing album cover art, photography, and graphic scores, to outline a culturally informed and constructed view of jazz and visual art practices. By paying particular attention to Ncaphayi's iconography and the explications of his work, this study aims to clarify the resonances between the visual and the sonic, while demonstrating the significance of both in the realm of signification. Although non-figurative abstraction lacks the conventional motifs found in figurative works, such as the depiction of instrumentation and portraiture, or even the symbolic stability of music notation, it continues to play a role in mediating the musical, aesthetic, and cultural meanings of jazz, despite its idiosyncrasy. This study is conducted by examining existing literature on jazz visual histories, criticism, music theory, and interviews with Mongezi Ncaphayi as research tools. Additionally, specific artworks are analysed to support an investigation of the cross- modal encounters between visual and sonic elements. These are then interpreted through the lenses of phenomenology, formalism, iconography, and black studies. DA - 2025 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town KW - New jazz studies KW - jazz visual culture KW - jazz KW - photography KW - abstraction KW - phenomenology KW - formalism KW - graphic scores KW - iconography KW - black studies KW - ankhrasmation LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2025 T1 - Jazz and Visual Abstraction: The Artworks of Mongezi Ncaphayi TI - Jazz and Visual Abstraction: The Artworks of Mongezi Ncaphayi UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/42335 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/42335
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationKanyane T. Jazz and Visual Abstraction: The Artworks of Mongezi Ncaphayi. []. University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Michaelis School of Fine Art, 2025 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/42335en_ZA
dc.language.isoen
dc.language.rfc3066eng
dc.publisher.departmentMichaelis School of Fine Art
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Humanities
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.subjectNew jazz studies
dc.subjectjazz visual culture
dc.subjectjazz
dc.subjectphotography
dc.subjectabstraction
dc.subjectphenomenology
dc.subjectformalism
dc.subjectgraphic scores
dc.subjecticonography
dc.subjectblack studies
dc.subjectankhrasmation
dc.titleJazz and Visual Abstraction: The Artworks of Mongezi Ncaphayi
dc.typeThesis / Dissertation
dc.type.qualificationlevelMasters
dc.type.qualificationlevelMasters
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