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TAPFUMA GUTSA1

2nd march - 1st april 2006 at the october gallery

RENJE SANDANGA an exhibition of sculpture by

october gallery, 24 Old Gloucester Street, London WC1N 3ALwww.octobergallery.co.uk Tues - Sat 12.30 - 5.30pm

An Exhibition of New Works by Tapfuma Gutsa

Tapfuma Gutsa’s work, both as artist and workshop leader, has transformed art practice in Zimbabwe and beyond. In this, his first solo UK exhibition, he explores the strengthening and transforming powers of land through the physical and metaphorical possibilities of natural materials, from serpentine to horn, egg shell, bone and clay.

Beyond the confidence and elegance of his objects’ forms, his choice of media brings to the work a shamanistic quality. He explains: “objects such as buffalo horns are used by medicine men to empower and strengthen the warrior before battle – in this sense the shaman creates an object that can acquire meaning and influence people, just as an AK47 or a bible can wield influence and power – I am therefore interested in creating ‘gadgets of influence’ – enigmatic forms that are intrinsically functional, in the sense that medicines or weapons are functional. It is a kind of alchemy”.

His works narrate stories of voyages, migrations, life cycles, battles and power. The 2004 installation, Ngavara, combines stone and buffalo horn in the form of a funerary boat. The vessel is filled with artefacts – axes, knives, bones, ritual objects. He describes the work as “an epic story that talks about the trade in slaves, goods and artefacts… it is ironic that to make a full-scale study of these things I would have to go to the museums of the West where most of the material and the cultural fabric of Africa has vanished, in a symbolical entombment of expended cultures.”

Tapfuma Gutsa’s work has both advanced and subverted the tradition of stone sculpture that dominated the Zimbabwean art scene from the 1960s to the 80s. After studying art at the Dreifontein Mission School in Zimbabwe, he became the first recipient of a British Council award to Zimbabwe. With this scholarship he studied for three years at the City and Guilds School of Art in London between 1982-1985, where he was awarded a Diploma in sculpture. After returning to Zimbabwe, he organised, in 1988, the first of a series of Pachipamwe Workshops, under the Triangle Arts model, bringing together younger and better-established artists to explore new directions for Zimbabwean art. He went on to establish the Surprise Studios in 1997, providing studio space for a generation of Zimbabwean artists. In 1990, his work was included in Grace Stanislaus’ seminal exhibition ‘African Artists: Changing Traditions’ at the Studio Museum, Harlem, and he has since participated in numerous international exhibitions, workshops and residency programmes. He currently lives and works in Vienna, Austria.

TG01. Tapfuma Gutsa, He Speaks Down To Us, 2002, Serpentine, Kudu Horn and Basket, 97 x 140 x 90 cm

TG02. Tapfuma Gutsa, The Cypher, Water Buffalo Horn and Granite, 107 x 31 x 30 cm

TG03. Tapfuma Gutsa, The Embrace, 2002, Serpentine, Kudu and Cow Horn 195 x 48 x 40 cm

TG04. Tapfuma Gutsa, The Miracle Of Moses, 2002, Serpentine, Kudu and Water Buffalo Horn, 83 x 146 x 26 cm

TG05. Tapfuma Gutsa, Ngavara, 2004, Serpentine, Water Buffalo and Sable Horn 195 x 32 x 15 cm

TG06. Tapfuma Gutsa, Tribute To Sango, 2002, Granite and Calabash 123 x 100 x 25 cm

TG07. Tapfuma Gutsa, Ancient Voyages, 2005, Oak, Pine, Chestnut and String 120 x 40 x 40 cm

TG08. Tapfuma Gutsa, Lightning, 2005, Kudu Horn, Oak, Eggshell and Plaster 220 x 20 x 20 cm

TG09. Tapfuma Gutsa, The Crook, 2002, Serpentine, Kudu and Cow Horn, 122 x 28 x 20 cm

TG11. Tapfuma Gutsa, The Owl Gadget, 2002, Driftwood and Gazelle Horn, 40 x 80 x 20 cm

TG12. Tapfuma Gutsa, Genesis, 2005, Walnut, 86 x 35 x 30 cm

TG25. Tapfuma Gutsa, Untitled, 2006, Wood and String 140 x 52 x 18.5 cm

TAPFUMA (Moses) GUTSA ARTIST’S PROFILE AND SELECTED SHOWS Born 1956 in Harare, Zimbabwe Education/Ausbildung: St.Ignatius College, Chishawasha. DriefonteinMission: Woodcarving workshop under Cornelius Manguma (1978 -1979). City and Guild School of Art, London, U.K.(British Council Scholarship) AWARDS:

1981 Oxyco Weldart, National Gallery, Harare 1986 Nedlaw Sculpture Award, Nat. Gallery, Harare 1992 Johnson & Fletcher Award, Ability in Wood, Harare 1993 Artist’s Residency Programme, Delfina Studios, London, 1995 President’s Award of Honour, Zimbabwe Heritage,Harare 2003 NAMA AWARD,(National Award for the Arts) Best achievement Zimbabwean sculpture SELECTED EXHIBITIONS

1981 Gallery Delta, Harare 1985 New Horizons, Royal Festival Hall, London U.K. 1987 UTONGA - Sculptures and Drawings, One man exhibition, Harare 1988 Drawings and Paintings by BERRY BICKLE and Sculptures by TAPFUMA GUTSA Gallery Delta; Harare1989 PACHIPAMWE INTERNATIONAL ARTISTS W/SHOP, Exhibition Harare 1990 CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN ART, Group Exhibition , Studio Museum, Harlem, New York 1991 CONTEMPORARY STONE SCULPTURE FROM ZIMBABWE, Yorkshire Sculpture Park VENICE BIENNALE, African Pavillon NEW GENERATION, Tapfuma Gutsa, Eddie Masaya, Richard Jack, Brighton Sango, Norbert Shamuyarira, LE FORUM, Harare HAVANNA BIENNALE, Cuba 1992 Sandro’s Gallery, Harare, Tapfuma Gutsa - Sculpture and paintings by Nicole Gutsa 1993 GALLERY KNUTH GROTHE, Finland OPEN STUDIOS, Group Exhibition Delfina Studios, London, 1994 STRONG WINDS, Stage Design, Arnolfini Theater, Bristol Palmengarten / Frankfurt, ALLIANCE FRANCAISE- Harare, GALLERY DELTA-Harare 1995 JOHANNESBURG BIENNALE GENESIS, GALLERY MUENSTERLAND, Emsdetten, Germany 180 DEGREES- Group Exhibition, Los Angeles 1996 SEEKING PERMISSION - Solo Show at REECE GALLERY New York 1997 LANDMARK - The Midlands Artists, NG Bulawayo THE PAST - Pierre Gallery, Harare / Solo Exhibition THE FUTURE - NGZ, Harare, Solo Exhibition ONDAMBO - Intern. Art Workshop Arandis, Namibia Sculpture from Zimbabwe, Melbourne, Australia 1998 ZIMBABWE HERITAGE, NGZ, Harare 1999 Artist’s Residency at Künstlerhaus CUXHAVEN: Eddie Masaya, Richard Jack and Tapfuma Gutsa VISITING LECTURER at the University of Athens, Georgia, U.S.A.

SOUTH MEETS WEST - National Gallery, Accra, Ghana 2000 KUNSTHALLE BERN - SOUTH MEETS WEST, Group Exhibition. KUNST AUS ZIMBABWE - KUNST IN ZIMBABWE, Bayreuth Museum, Germany 2001 Art for the people - COMPLETION AND OPENING OF PROJECT SURPRISE ART CENTRE Plan and execution by Tapfuma Gutsa 1997 -2001 2002 KAKUYU KE MUNYAKA, Group show together with Berry Bickle, Gallery Dieleman, Belgium 2003 THE POWER OF THE OBJECT - Alliance Francaise, Harare/Solo Show ARTISTS RESIDENCY, Kuona Trust, Nairobi, Kenya 2004 DAKART - Dakar Biennale, Senegal HOPE, Botanical Gardens, Berlin STEP INSIDE - Group Exhibition, Gallery Dieleman, Belgium VISIONS OF ZIMBABWE - Group Exhibition, Manchester City Art Gallery 2005 GASWORKS Six week residency, London TRANSITIONS Brunei Gallery, SOAS, London. Group Exhibition RESIDENCY Birkenreid, Germany WASSER BRENNT Galerie Habari, Vienna. Group Exhibition2006 RENJE SANDANGA October Gallery, London. Solo Exhibition WORKSHOPS

Organiser of the first Pachipamwe International Art Workshops in Zimbabwe in conjunction with Triangle Art Trust, 1988, 1989, 1990 and Pachipamwe Zim-Sculpture W/Shop, Shurugwi, 1994 Participant in: Thapong Art Workshop, Botswana, 1990 UJAMAA Art Workshop, Pemba, Mozambique, 1991 XAYAMACA Workshop, Crystall Springs, Jamaica, 1993 CYFUNIAD, Intern. Art Workshop, Wales, U.K., 1999 KHOJ, Intern. Art Workshop, Modinagar, India, 2001 ART GROUP

Founder and Organiser of the Utonga Art Group, Tafara in the early 1980s and since 1997 building and establishment of SURPRISE ART CENTRE, a project designed to bring art to the people.