Young Girl

Today's Featured Sculpture

Young Girl by Sylvester Mubayi

Ref No: 911

Title: Young Girl

Sculptor: Sylvester Mubayi

Medium: Springstone

Dimentions: 32x20x25

Weight: 21Kgs

Sculptor Information 

Sylvester Mubayi born in 1942 in the Chiota Reserve near Marondera. After leaving school, Sylvester worked as a tobacco grader and moved to Harare in 1966 to seek employment at the Chubuku Breweries. 

In 1967 he joined the sculptors community at Tengenenge and later became the founding member of the Vukutu Workshop School. In 1978 Frank McEwen said about Sylvester Mubayi “Certainly when I knew him he was by far the greatest sculptor there. I have tremendous admiration for him… Some of his work is as great as anything in the world”.

Mubayi now lives and works in Chitunguiza. His work is inspired by a world of spiritual and supernatural forces often fusing people and the animal kingdom. Skeletons inspired Sylvester’s early work. He produced some extremely powerful and uncompromising sculpture in the 60’s and 70’s, but of late his sculpture has become gentler, more contemplative and often very moving. 

Sylvester was awarded the Ernest Oppenheimer Memorial Award for sculpture in 1969.

He has exhibited extensively since 1968 in many parts of the world and has sculpture in major art collections in Europe and North America.

Teenage Model

Today's Featured Sculpture

Teenage Model by Daniel Baradza 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ref No: 1695

Title: Teenage Model

Sculptor: Daniel Baradza

Medium: Serpentine

Dimentions: 175x32x27

Weight: 110Kgs

Sculptor Information  

Daniel Baradza was born in 1973 and grew up in Mutare. After leaving school in 1990 he worked as a spray painter.

In 1994 he started carving under the instruction of Joe Mutasa. 

In 1995 he started carving torsos to date carves large abstract works, then in 1996 he was included in an international exhibition, which was held in Belgium. The exhibition was called 21 Internationale Kunsi-En Antiekbeurs Knokke ’96. Amongst the artists included were Brighton Sango, Gladman Zinyeka and Sylvester Mubayi.

Daniel was included in another major international exhibition in Belgium in 1997, called Monumental Sculptures du Zimbabwe, Zimbabwean Sculptures ’97.

Most of Daniel’s pieces are in private and public places in Europe and America.

His ambition is to hold a one-man exhibition in Zimbabwe and abroad. 

During his free time he enjoys reading books, soccer and television.

Lovers

Today's Featured Sculpture

Lovers by Fabian Madamombe

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ref No: 757

Title: Lovers

Sculptor: Fabian Madamombe
Medium: Opaline

Dimentions: 205x80x62

Weight: ±500Kgs

Sculptor Information 

Born in 1953 in Kadoma, Fabian Madamombe is considered to be an interesting member of the second generation of artists. Although Zimbabwean, he was educated in Zambia, but finally achieved artistic qualifications at the B.A.T. Workshops held at the National Gallery in Harare. The three years he spent there provided a framework in which he was able to explore with more freedom his ideas and ambitions - being able to experiment with drawing (life drawing from the human model as well as still life), painting and printmaking. 

He was self-taught as a carver, having first been introduced to the skill by his uncle who worked in wood, and in the beginning carved small figures from his imagination. He saw Tapfuma Gutsa carving in stone and immediately tried this new medium for himself. Still a great admirer of Tapfuma, he has received much help and guidance from this well-known young artist.

Fabian’s sculpture comes from many sources - his imagination, the human figure and more abstracted themes taken from the natural world around him. Much of his work is large scale with courageous areas of raw or rough-hewn stone left exposed. 

The smaller or medium sized works such as Bird or Modern Lovers are abstracted and have some smoother polished surfaces - but most, like his recent pieces, show an overriding fascination with the possibilities of texture within the stone - using lines, punch holes and flat, rough areas which retain the outside, orange ‘skin’ of the stone.

Working at Chapungu from 1988 until 2000, Fabian favours the Black and Green Serpentine as well as the harder Springstone.

He says of his work “I just want to show people what my talent is capable of. Sometimes the sculpture has a specific message but at other times it simply communicates ideas about volume, space and form.”

In 1993 a great honour was bestowed upon Fabian. He was selected from nine sculptures around the world; to go to Millfield, Somerset in England. This is a very elite and exclusive school, which have a beautiful “Art Garden”. Fabian was commissioned to sculpt a piece for them. He spent six weeks at Millfield and carved an interesting abstract sculpture out of stone.