Wednesday, 6 November 2013

Henry Munyaradzi - what an exceptional artist.

Henry was born in Guruvu in 1931. His father, a spirit medium, left the family when Henry was one year old and never returned. His uncle brought up Henry in rural surroundings and Henry did not go to school. After serving as the village blacksmith, he worked on tobacco farms as a carpenter and tobacco grader.

The 10th September 1967 marked a milestone in Henry’s life – one day he remembers vividly. Out of work, he was walking through the hills of the Great dyke of Zimbabwe when he heard the tapping of tools against stone. On investigation, he found men forming images from raw rock.

He had stumbled upon the Tengenenge Sculpture Community where he was welcomed by Tom Blomefield and began to sculpt. He soon became one of the most significant members of this group and since his first exhibition at the National Gallery in 1968; he has taken part in many other exhibitions both locally and internationally. Henry became known as Henry of Tengenenge.

Henry has become one of the world’s most widely known artists and his sculpture has been recognised with acclaim throughout the world. Following a very successful one-man exhibition in London in 1984, he was able to purchase his own farm.

Henry has also participated in almost all group exhibitions around the world. Michael Shepherd, a respected London critic wrote, “Michelangelo’s spiritual ideal of the individual form waiting to be released from the individual stone is even more apparent here than in Michelangelo’s own marbles”.

Sadly Henry passed away on 27 February 1998.



We have three sculptures carved by Henry in our gallery.

1267-1  1262-1  1264-1

No comments:

Post a Comment