Born in 1981 in Zimbabwe, Kudzanai Chiurai is considered to be one of the fastest rising talents in contemporary African art among others. He is the first black student to study fine art at the University of Pretoria in South Africa where he was recently named "Most Promising Art Student" by the university's esteemed faculty. Kudzanai has shown in and outside Africa, but he has never shown his work in his home country Zimbabwe.
Chiurai's large mixed media works tackle some of the most pertinent issues facing southern Africa such as xenophobia, displacement and black empowerment. His paintings confront viewers with the psychological and physical experience of inner-city Johannesburg, the continent's most cosmopolitan melting pot where thousands of exiles, refugees and asylum-seekers battle for survival alongside the never-ending swell of newly urbanized South Africans. The actuality of these environs is reinforced by Chiurai's use of photographic transfer. Boldly stenciled figures and anonymous text provide running commentary, leading viewers on a journey through his intricately painted turn-of-the century buildings, bustling streets and congested transit systems.
*Biographical excerpt provided by AfricanColours.com.
