Rhinoman by Bernard Matemera
Weight: 190kg
Genre: Animals
Stone Type: Serpentine
Sculptor Information
Bernard, a first generation artist, was
born in 1946 in Guruve. Bernard is one of the earliest members of The
Tengenenge Sculpture Community. As a youth he herded cattle and made
clay figures. At school he excelled at woodcarving. Bernard is one of
only four or five sculptors who remained at Tengenenge during the
liberation struggle.
Uninfluenced by the market place his work is uncompromisingly African. His subjects are derived from people and animals he has seen in the past and from dreams. Bernard’s sculpture visualises his early established and highly original view of life, which has not yet been changed by outside influences. His area of Tengenenge is a playground for all shapes, sizes and conditions of man and spirit. We are asked to reshape our notions of beauty and engage in a number of erotic pursuits, to enter a world of romping and rolling and of games of the flesh. His sculpture speaks in a highly suggestive body language. He is the creator of sculpture in the raw – huge naked figures with breasts, buttocks and bulges, charged with sexual energy and all at odds with their massive proportion and bulk.
Within Bernard’s sculptures there is a wide distribution of the properties of man, animal and spirit. In his imagination the essence of these beings are selected, greatly magnified and put together as grotesque human/animal forms of great vitality and classical proportions, embodying grossly distended lips, bulging eyes, horns, gigantic body, feet and hands with two or three toes and fingers. He often portrays the metamorphosis of man into animal – animal into bird etc
Bernard had works purchased by National Gallery of Zimbabwe, Chapungu Sculpture Park, Volkerkunde Museum Frankfurt, Christensen Fund Perth Australia and Museum of Malawi for permanent collections. Many pieces are purchased by private collectors worldwide. In 1987, Bernard was invited to Yugoslavia to make a large sculpture at the Joseph Broz Triro Museum in Titograd. Bernard has also been honoured several times: Honour award at New Delhi Trienale, India; Distinction at Heritage Exhibition at The National Gallery of Zimbabwe; Awards of outdoor sculpture at The Zimbabwe Heritage Exhibition; Merit at Zimbabwe Heritage Exhibition.
Bernard passed away in March 2002.
Uninfluenced by the market place his work is uncompromisingly African. His subjects are derived from people and animals he has seen in the past and from dreams. Bernard’s sculpture visualises his early established and highly original view of life, which has not yet been changed by outside influences. His area of Tengenenge is a playground for all shapes, sizes and conditions of man and spirit. We are asked to reshape our notions of beauty and engage in a number of erotic pursuits, to enter a world of romping and rolling and of games of the flesh. His sculpture speaks in a highly suggestive body language. He is the creator of sculpture in the raw – huge naked figures with breasts, buttocks and bulges, charged with sexual energy and all at odds with their massive proportion and bulk.
Within Bernard’s sculptures there is a wide distribution of the properties of man, animal and spirit. In his imagination the essence of these beings are selected, greatly magnified and put together as grotesque human/animal forms of great vitality and classical proportions, embodying grossly distended lips, bulging eyes, horns, gigantic body, feet and hands with two or three toes and fingers. He often portrays the metamorphosis of man into animal – animal into bird etc
Bernard had works purchased by National Gallery of Zimbabwe, Chapungu Sculpture Park, Volkerkunde Museum Frankfurt, Christensen Fund Perth Australia and Museum of Malawi for permanent collections. Many pieces are purchased by private collectors worldwide. In 1987, Bernard was invited to Yugoslavia to make a large sculpture at the Joseph Broz Triro Museum in Titograd. Bernard has also been honoured several times: Honour award at New Delhi Trienale, India; Distinction at Heritage Exhibition at The National Gallery of Zimbabwe; Awards of outdoor sculpture at The Zimbabwe Heritage Exhibition; Merit at Zimbabwe Heritage Exhibition.
Bernard passed away in March 2002.
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