Henry MUNYARADZI, 1931-1998

Henry's background, like his life and work, is as deceptively simple as it is remarkable. He was born in Guruve, in the North of Zimbabwe, in 1931. His father, a spirit medium, left the family when Henry was very young and from this point on, Henry's childhood and upbringing was typical of rural Zimbabwe at the time - herding cattle and hunting game with dogs, spears and bows and arrows. He did not go to school and to this day speaks and understands very little English. He eventually worked in various ways with the natural land and industry around him - first as a village blacksmith and later as a carpenter and tobacco grader.

However, this similarity with the lives of his peers, ended in 1967 when, out of work, he stumbled across the Tengenenge Sculptors' Community set up by Tom Blomefield. He began to sculpt, preferring to work alone and from the beginning with individual strength and powerfully original imagery. As a result he quickly established himself as the leading artist of the community, but left to work alone in 1975.

Henry Munyaradzi's work began to be included in exhibitions early on in his career - his first exhibition at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe, for example, was in 1968. Since that time he has been exhibited both in group and individual shows worldwide and the striking linear images in his sculpture made him internationally popular.

The strength of Munyaradzi's work lies in the purity of form. Technique and imagery are honed down to pinpoint the essence of his subject in the simplest of terms. The confident lines and clear-cut geometric incisions have often been compared to Paul Klee's work. Being entirely self-taught his work blends the simplicity of the primitive with stylised sophistication. He greatly respects the stone he uses and is often inspired by its original shape.

Henry Munyaradzi has participated in major group exhibitions as well as eight one-man shows in London, Los Angeles, Berlin and Harare. His work is found in the National Gallery of Zimbabwe, Chapungu Sculpture Park and in museums and private collections throughout the world.

source: CAMA.org.za
photo: "Life in Stone: Zimbabwean Sculpture -- Birth of a Contemporary Art Form" 1994 - Oliver Sultan

 

[read about the History of Shona Sculpture here]