Kudzanai Chiurai Explained

Kudzanai Chiurai
Birth Date:1981
Birth Place:Harare, Zimbabwe
Nationality:Zimbabwean
Occupation:Artist and activist
Years Active:2003 – present
Awards:FNB Art prize

Kudzanai Chiurai (born 1981) is a Zimbabwean artist and activist.[1] His repertoire of art combines the use of mixed media which involves the use of paintings, drawings, videos and photographs to address and tackle social, political and cultural issues in Zimbabwe.[2]

Since his first solo exhibition in 2003, his artworks have been exhibited in the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, Museum für Moderne Kunst in Frankfurt, Victoria and Albert Museum in London, and documenta in Kassel, Germany. Forbes listed him among "Thirteen Africans To Watch In 2013".[3] In 2015, he was named among the "15 Young African Creatives Rebranding Africa" by Forbes.[4]

Kudzanai is not only an artist but also a poet, an activist and a cultural philosopher who addresses social and political injustices in Zimbabwe.[5] Kudzanai is not known as a photographer, but he collaborates with other photographers to diversify the studio photography.

Life and career

Chiurai was born in 1981 Harare, Zimbabwe, but spent most of his later years in South Africa where he became the first black student to graduate with a bachelor's degree in Fine Art from the University of Pretoria.[6] Kudzanai is also considered as part of the "born-free" generation since he was born one year after the independence of Zimbabwe

He started his career by painting landscapes and portraits until he left his country Zimbabwe for South Africa where he developed an interest in using art as a form of activism.[7] In 2004, Chiurai went on a self-imposed exile after he received arrest threats following his exhibition of Rau Rau and the Battle of Zimbabwe, two controversial artworks that depicted Robert Mugabe as a demonic figure during the build-up to the 2008 Zimbabwean general election.[8]

In 2012, his short still film Iyeza was screened during the 2013 Sundance Film Festival.

Kudzanai was a winner of the FNB art prize in South Africa

Style

Kudzanai uses masculinity and power as a style and framework in most of his artwork to represent the political ambiguity in South Africa. The idea of masculinity and power is also demonstrated in one of his group exhibitions entitled "The Black President", "The Minister of Enterprise" and "Dying to be men".

Kudzanai uses art to depict his surroundings such as urban shops in Johannesburg and the fact that he focuses on the city of South Africa in most of his artwork.

Art work

Kudzanai created a group of posters named 'Conflict Resolution' that exhibit the topics of dispute and violence, along with the ways people solve these disputes.  

He used digital photography and printing to create these posters titled "Conflict Resolution" which talks about the social and political issues in South Africa

Kudzanai's video work is displayed on the walls at the Zukerman Museum of in which the video deals with the gap between Western views of Africa and the realities of the continent of Africa.

The idea of globalization is also incorporated into his artworks.

Exhibitions

Solo exhibitions

Group exhibitions

General references

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 31 October 2019 . An interview with Kudzanai Chiurai . 31 August 2021 . Apollo Magazine . en-US.
  2. Web site: Kudzanai Chiurai / State of the Nation / 2011. Goodman Gallery. 5 July 2016.
  3. News: Thirteen African Celebrities To Watch In 2013. Forbes. Nsehe. Mfonobong. 30 December 2012. 5 July 2016.
  4. Web site: Eytan . Declan . The 15 Young African Creatives Rebranding Africa . 31 August 2021 . Forbes . en.
  5. Web site: 22 November 2017 . Kudzanai Chiurai is the artist calling for revolution in Zimbabwe . 31 August 2021 . Interview Magazine . en-US.
  6. News: Kudzanai Chiurai: The artist who stood up to Mugabe. CNN. Mabuse. Nkepile. 12 July 2012. 5 July 2016.
  7. News: Zimbabwe's Kudzanai Chiurai: Can art change Africa?. BBC. Harding. Andrew. 24 October 2011. 5 July 2016.
  8. News: Kudzanai Chiurai. artThrob. Stielau. Anna. 5 July 2016.
  9. News: Mark . Gevisser . Mark Gevisser . Figures & Fictions at the V&A . 23 April 2011 . 28 February 2017 . . London.
  10. https://kiasma.fi/kiasma-lehti/pdf/k48_en.pdf
  11. Web site: douw . 29 May 2012 . Muholi, Chiurai and Kentridge at dOCUMENTA 13 . 2 May 2019.

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