Nicholas Mukomberanwa

Nicholas Mukomberanwa
Nicholas Mukomberanwa
Birth name	Nicholas Mukomberanwa
Born	1940 (1940) Buhera District, Zimbabwe
Died	November 2000 (2000-12) Harare, Zimbabwe
Nationality	Zimbabwean
Field	Sculpture
Training	Frank McEwen
Movement	Shona sculpture

Nicholas Mukomberanwa (1940 - November 2002) was a Zimbabwean sculptor. He was among the most famous products of the Workshop School.

Life

Mukomberanwa was born in the Buhera District and spent his childhood in a rural environment. He was interested in art from an early age, being introduced to the craft of woodcarving while a student at the Sermia Mission School. Here, too, he encountered a blend of traditional Christian iconography and tribal African pieces.

Mukomberanwa moved to Harare while in his twenties, taking a job as a police officer and setting aside his artistic training. In 1962 he met Frank McEwen, then director of the National Gallery of Zimbabwe, who encouraged him to take up art again. McEwen provided materials and training in a workshop in the Gallery basement, and soon Mukomberanwa was sculpting in his free time. Eventually, in a risky move, he decided to leave his career with the police to become a sculptor full-time. The gambit paid off, and by the 1970s his work was being shown in important shows in Paris, New York City, and London. Mukomberanwa continued to hone his skills over the following decade, developing one of the most distinctive personal styles found in his generation of Zimbabwean stone sculptors.

In the 1990s, Mukomberanwa's reputation was further enhanced by several one-man shows in London and New York. Later in his career, he slowed his production of art to enjoy farming and cattle ranching on an extensive spread which he owned. He produced less, creating more personal sculptures and slowing down the pace of his life considerably.

Mukomberanwa's works are in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art and the Museum of Man in London as well as in the National Gallery of Zimbabwe. He died suddenly in 2002.

Several of Mukomberanwa's children became sculptors, including his sons Anderson, Lawrence, and Taguma, and his daughters Netsai and Ennica. He was also the uncle and teacher of Nesbert Mukomberanwa and mentor to African-American sculptor M. Scott Johnson.

Work

Mukomberanwa's sculptures frequently depicted forms taken from nature, such as animals and birds; most were highly polished, although in a few cases he would contrast smooth sections with areas of great roughness. He worked primarily in stone, using local materials such as serpentine. Stylistically, his works were similar in nature to the sculptures of the Shona people, from whom he derived some of his stylistic ideas.

References

• Brief biography
• Another biography and overview of his work
• Essay on his work
• Home Page
• www.art-affairs-gallery.com