Sol Golden Sato
Sol Golden Sato is a London-based Malawian contemporary history painter whose work breathes new life into the venerable tradition of history painting. Sato’s work bridges contemporary history painting and social commentary. A long-term migrant shaped by the final years of apartheid and sweeping political changes across southern Africa.
Historically, this genre drew from the legends of history, mythology, the Bible, imperial conquest, and folklore, and was once considered one of the highest forms of painting. However, it fell out of vogue in the 20th century. Sol’s vibrant canvases, often depicting scenes from traumatic events, resonate with the tension between a flamboyant color palette and serious subject matters.
Drawing from both classical and contemporary sources is central to Sol’s practice and it is where an idea for a new work largely begins. Insistently repeating figures and scenes, from both European, African and world myths often in different mediums and scales until his narratives are realised.
Landscapes, interior scenes and figures are merged together and becoming one. Figures and trees dissolve and reappear on a journey together, sometimes cohabitating, sometimes being consumed, but he is always investigating his fascination with the passing of time, memory and the self.
Through gestural brushstrokes and vibrant colour, Sato transforms the memory of Blues parties into a visual language that pulses with bacchanalian energy. His canvases are alive with rhythm and emotion, translating personal and collective histories into immersive, expressive surfaces. In this way, Sato’s work becomes both archive and anthem—an act of remembrance that insists on the visibility of Black joy, desire, and cultural resistance.
Biography
Born in Malawi under a peaceful yet authoritarian regime, his early life sparked a lifelong interest in how societies and power structures shape human experience. These lived realities fuel his fascination with images, rituals, and the ways we represent ourselves and others.
Sato’s work has been exhibited at Somerset House 2024, across Scotland 2023, and internationally in Greece 2021, and has reached national audiences through media appearances on BBC One’s Sunday Morning Live (June 2023), ITV News London (June 2022), and ITV News Scotland (March 2023). His Hawick Happy Feet project was featured in The Telegraph, and he continues to collaborate with the BBC on a national art initiative for Children in Need. These platforms have helped amplify his belief that creativity is not a luxury—it is a lifeline. His work resonates with the spirit of Small Axe, Steve McQueen’s landmark series, which reclaims Black British history through intimate, cinematic storytelling.
