Nicholas Mukomberanwa

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Nicholas Mukomberanwa (* 1940 in Buhera district near Ruwa , then: Southern Rhodesia , today: Zimbabwe; † November 2002 Ruwa) was an important representative of the first generation of modern sculptors in Zimbabwe .

biography

Nicholas Mukomberanwa spent his childhood in a rural environment, which fundamentally influenced his later work. At the Serima Mission School he was introduced to the imagery of both the Christian religion and traditional African art , and he learned the art of wood carving . He was able to free himself from the restrictive, rigid artistic rules that were imposed on him there after he met Frank McEwen, director of the National Gallery in Harare , in 1962. Its art-pedagogical principles allowed young natural talents to develop freely on their own without too much guidance and training . In retrospect, this philosophy appears to McEwen to be the most important element in Nicholas Mukomberanwa's career. While he was still working full-time as a police officer, he began to sculpt and soon his works appeared at international exhibitions . In 1976 he made sculpture his profession.

Nicholas was a deeply spiritual person. A visit to his farm inevitably led to a conversation about marriage, life, religion, art, trees, children, love and politics. But he never wanted to talk about prices and left the art business to his - now deceased - highly gifted sons Nicholas and Anderson , whose works - like those of sons Lawrence and Taguma and daughters Netsai and Ennika - testify to the natural talent of the Mukomberanwa family. Nicholas is internationally recognized as one of Zimbabwe's most important sculptors; his works are in many collections and museums around the world.

style

Despite his success, Nicholas Mukomberanwa remained focused on the development of his art: “there was always a question mark in my head - why is it good - why is it bad?” While initially he was very fond of depicting African cult figures and scenes from the Bible Having preferred simple round shapes, he developed a more complicated geometric style in the sixties , which he enhanced in the seventies by using the hard Penhalonga serpentinite through sharp lines and surfaces to a high level of abstraction , often in an overwhelming , monumental form reminiscent of Henry Moore . Some of his most powerful sculptures were created in the eighties, when he combined the bold formal inventions of his earlier styles with deeply carved surfaces and confident, sweeping curves to create something incomparably his own. He was knowledgeable about the Shona culture and very proud of it. It was a source of strength and motivation for him to preserve and depict them.

Exhibitions

Group exhibitions : London (1969, 1972, 1981, 1983, 1988), Oxford (1981, 1984), Paris (1970/71, 1987), Chicago (1974), Boston (1987), Frankfurt am Main (1985), Vienna ( 1985), Rome (1987), Sydney (1985), Melbourne and Brisbane (1987), Harare (1978, 1982/83, 1989, 1993/94), Venice Biennale (1990), Tokyo (1992) and New York (1990 / 91, 1994/95, 1997)

Solo exhibitions : Johannesburg (1977/78), Harare (1979), London (1983/84), Los Angeles (1984), Auckland / New Zealand (1991), Sydney (1991), Harare (1995 - retrospective at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe , where it has also been permanently represented since 1981).

swell

  • Ben Joosten: Lexicon: Sculptors from Zimbabwe. The first generation . Dodeward, Netherlands; ISBN 90-806629-1-7 (English)
  • Contemporary Master Sculptors of Zimbabwe . Friends Forever, Ruwa Zimbabwe 2007; ISBN 978-0-7974-3527-8 (English)
  • Oliver Sultan: Life in Stone. Zimbabwean Sculpture. Birth of an Contemporary Art Form , Harare 1999; ISBN 1-77909-023-4 (English)
  • Prominent Sculptors of Zimbabwe: Nicholas Mukomberanwa , Catalog, Harare 1989 (English)
  • Celia Winter-Irving: Stone Sculpture in Zimbabwe. Context, Content and Form , Harare 1991 (English)
  • Anthony and Laura Ponter: Spirits in Stone: The New Face of African Art ; Sebastopol / California 1992 (English)

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Mukomberanwa, Nicholas
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Zimbabwean sculptor
DATE OF BIRTH 1940
PLACE OF BIRTH Ruwa , Zimbabwe
DATE OF DEATH November 2002
Place of death Ruwa , Zimbabwe