The Africa Centre and InZart present

THE PEOPLE WATCHERS

John Hlatywayo

- Metal Sculptures -Tafadzwa Gwetai

- Paintings and Collages -

The Africa Centre 66-68 Great Suffolk Street, London SE1 OBL

21st April – 7th May 2016

africacentre.org.uk

"Art has something to do with the achievement of stillness in the midst of chaos."

Saul Bellow, 1966

What draw Hlatywayo and Gwetai’s works together are certain factors: that the vision must have edges, distinctions between their solidity and the background or space they inhabit. Inspired through the observation of life, these artists are clearly people watchers; Hlatywayo, employing curvature to capture emotion in the subject, and Gwetai floating figures onto his paper that observe as much as are observed themselves.

SignsOfTheTimes:InternetWay,2015.Oilpaintonpaper,printedmaterial&canvas,67x42cm.

In 1991, John Hlatywayo, already with a career spanning over thirty years, embarked upon a series of abstracted metal figures, condensing decades of experience to define a vision of humanity utilising minimal lines. His choice of elements to define space is sparse and compelling, while subtle manipulations of his materials allowed him to convey movement and feelings succinctly and precisely. From his initial experimentation with ‘Excited Woman’ his sculptures developed their form and negative space. In 1994 he won the Award of Merit for metal sculpture in the annual Zimbabwe Heritage Exhibition with his piece, ‘Together’.

PregnantWoman,1993.Metal.

Ht:130cm.

FieldDreamer,1993.Metal.Ht:135cm. ExcitedWoman,1991.Metal.Ht:142cm.

Tafadzwa Gwetai enjoys reacting to his surroundings and innovates with his approach to square his artistic quandaries. Contemporary life in Zimbabwe has required quick mental arithmetic, for some years to cope with hyperinflation and more latterly to live in a multi-currency trading environment. Such abilities convert in his paintings with ladders of numerals and carved delineations, emphasized with shades and blocks of colour.

The collection included here spans a vital recent year in the artists’ life, from 2014, living in the hustle and bustle of his native Bulawayan streets to 2015, undergoing a huge experiential shift when he began a long period invigilating a calm white space as assistant curator of the Zimbabwean pavilion of the 56th Venice Biennale.

CalculatingWoman2,2015.Oilpaintonpaper,55x42cm.

For some years Tafadzwa found himself constrained by the physical boundary of the perimeter of his paper. By cutting or tearing his creations from their comfortable existence domiciled within each sheet, he has unveiled deeper horizons, as each character is forced to interract with others similarly disengaged into an overlapping hierarchy, juggling themselves in new surroundings, following signs, standing in lines.

In the first weeks of arriving in Italy, he completed his ‘Signs Of The Times’ series, using inspiration and components carried from home. We are at police roadblocks, obliging the authorities, or at junctions or shops, waiting our turn. We see hints of Zimbabwe in the backgrounds, deposit slips for an extinct currency, discussions of African identity, money transfer terms.

In a second wave of creativity, utilising unfamiliar inks and papers bought on the lagoon archipelago, his people gain more individual space to breathe in, reflecting the unnatural environment the artist now found himself in, watching individuals of all nationalities drifting in and out of the Pavilion, silent for the most part, often not communicating on entry or exit.

SignsoftheTimes:5thAvenue,2015.Oilpaintonpaper&printedmaterial,67x42cm.

GiveWay,2015.Oilpaintonpaper&inkonFabrianopaper,69x49cm.

StandinginTime,2015.InkonFabrianopaper,69x49cm.

ARTIST STATEMENT The focal point of my art has always been people. People, how they react with their ever changing environment in urban and rural spaces. Our identity is constantly evolving and adopting to new and modern technological advances. My work embraces who we have become in relation to our surroundings. We are exposed to symbols, science and religions. Our identity is mutating and mankind is gradually assuming a new digitalised and urban identity. People are as much a part of urban spaces as much as the spaces are a part of them. The use of numbers and text in my work emphasizes the extent to which the fibre of our identity has been penetrated by technology and consumer culture that has resulted in the creation of diverse brands/ symbols that have been devised to alter our core self.

Tafadzwa Gwetai, April 2015

BIOGRAPHIES Mumvuri John HLATYWAYO Born in the 1920s in Chipinge, Eastern Zimbabwe, he trained as a carpenter before heading to South Africa in 1948. Encouraged by others, he enrolled at Polly Peck Art Centre, working for three years under Cecil Skotnis and later George Boys. His paintings were exhibited from 1959 and his first solo show was held at the Constancia Gallery in 1961.

He returned to Rhodesia in 1963 and became a well-known and respected figure on the arts scene prior to independence, exhibiting frequently and teaching, particularly to children. His first metal sculptures were shown in 1979 winning the joint second prize in the WeldArt 79 exhibition. Sadly he is now retired as his eyesight has failed.

Tafadzwa Lambert GWETAI Tafadzwa has been active for almost twenty years as an artist, exhibiting since 1999. He studied Creative Art and Design at the University in Chinhoyi from 2003 to 2007 and has subsequently exhibited in his home country, primarily in the National Gallery and at Gallery Delta, Harare, winning a series of awards for his paintings and graphics.

Apart from his own work, he has also gained a reputation as a curator in Bulawayo, which culminated in his appointment as assistant curator to Raphael Chikukwa at the 56th Venice Biennale. While in Venice he blogged frequently about the works in the Zimbabwe Pavilion and gained many friends in the international art world as a result.

This exhibition has been curated by Stephen Goldsmith of InZart, collector and dealer active in Zimbabwe and the UK since 1990. For further information about these artists, the reader is referred to the online gallery, http://www.inzart.co.uk.

With thanks to Amal Medani, Anne-Lise Fotso and staff at the Africa Centre, London and Raquel Villar-Pérez.

Copyright April 2016 by Stephen Goldsmith, London, United Kingdom