oil on paper

Artwork date: 2012

(1)

59.5 x 84 cm unframed

Provenance:

Private collection, Cape Town.

First Floor Gallery, Harare.

ABOUT THE ARTWORK

"The colours I use are the colours I see, no more and no less. Harare is called the ‘Sunshine City’ and the nature of its dwellers is as vibrant as its colours. The brightness is both a celebration and a defiance to hardship. The way we face challenges is not in darkness – we don’t forget the beauty of life even in the most difficult of times.” [1]

Zimbabwean-born artist, Wycliffe Mundopa advocates for the most vulnerable and the ones that are overlooked in society. His artworks reflect on the contradictions and complexities of the lives of women who have to hold both traditional values and contemporary realities within Zimbabwe. He seeks to portray his surroundings and peers with dignity, nuance and honesty. A notable example of this is seen in the Pleasant Smell series. Pleasant Smell 02 and Pleasant Smell 03, both form part of this series, and speak to the artist’s larger investigation into- and consideration of- the lives and responsibilities of women within the urban neighbourhoods of Harare. The women are allegorical in their nature, as they represent the artist’s perspective of them culturally as the keepers of tradition. Simultaneously, to provide for their little ones, they have the courage and fortitude to take on jobs that others would deem promiscuous or dishonourable. He pushes back against puritanical expectations brought to Zimbabwe through colonial Chrsitian values. Rather, the artist states that he wants to “celebrate the beauty of real Zimbabwean women the way they are: passionate, bright, full of fire and energy and uncompromising in the face of difficulty, but also full of laughter and celebration.” [2]

^{[1] Beaton, H. (2023). ‘WYCLIFFE MUNDOPA’S TECHNICOLOUR TRIUMPHS OF ZIMBABWEAN CONTEMPORARY LIFE’, CEC (Connect Everything Collective), 27 February. [online]. Available:}

^{https://ceconline.co.za/wycliffe-mundopas-technicolour-triumphs-of-zimbabwean-contemporary-life/?fbclid=IwAR0PbsAOXUz8jMnOkcBvloEZcSU9qo07Hm4Qda3fxEGUVpHs8WrsRMYC1c4}

^{2] Ibid}

COLLECTOR’S NOTE

• The artist has a prolific career trajectory, with his most recent solo show at Southern Guild in collaboration with First Floor Gallery Harare, titled Pachipamwe (We Meet Again) in 2023.
• In 2021 Mundupa was the winner of the FNB Art Prize. This award was followed by a solo exhibition titled Zva_nyadza at the Johannesburg Art Gallery, South Africa.
• Other notable solo local and international exhibitions include: 10001AFTERNOONS, Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery, London (2020); NAIROBI, HERE WE ART!, Out of Africa Gallery, Barcelona, Spain (2019) and Tomorrows/Today solo presentation at Cape Town Art Fair (2018).
• Wycliffe Mundopa’s group exhibitions include: Africa on My Mind, Ethan Cohen KuBe, Beacon, USA (2021); Day & Night, Mundopa/Nyaude, GNYP Gallery, Berlin, Germany (2019); Kubatana, African Contemporary Art, Vestfossen Kunstlaboratorium, Norway (2019) and Another Antipodes/urban axis, PS Art Space, Fremantle, Australia (2017).
• The artist’s work has been featured in art fairs globally including: FNB Art Fair, Johannesburg, Cape Town Art Fair, Cape Town, Art 16, London and AKAA Paris, France.

COLLECTIONS:

The artist is represented in numerous local and international collections, notebly the Ilana Goor Museum, Tel- Aviv; Museum of Modern Art of Equatorial Guinea, Malabo and the Lluís Coromina Foundation, Girona.