Cassi Namoda, Family Portrait in Gurúè, 2019

One of our artists to watch this decade, Cassi Namoda’s first London solo show opens on 24 January. This painting is one of the new works included in Little Is Enough For Those in Love

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the show’s title is an East African proverb, and seems a good mantra for the beginning of the year. The exhibition is a journey to Maputo, where the artist was born. This portrait depicts a family of three in Gurúè, a town in the northern region of Mozambique Namoda’s grandfather hails from—the largest tea growing estate on the island. Social convention seems to weigh heavily on Namoda’s characters: the young husband and wife carry their baby daughter, all three awkwardly acting out their familial roles.