African Art

African art constitutes one of the most diverse legacies on earth. Though many casual observers tend to generalize "traditional" African art, the continent is full of people, societies, and civilizations, each with a unique visual special culture. The definition also includes the art of the African Diasporas, such as the art of African Americans. Despite this diversity, there are some unifying artistic themes when considering the totality of the visual culture from the continent of Africa.

An Ebony sculpture.

African art takes many forms and as such is made from many different materials. Jewelry is a popular art form and is used to indicate rank, affiliation with a group, or purely for aesthetics.^[6] African jewelry is made from such diverse materials as Tiger's eye stone, haematite, sisal, coconut shell, beads and ebony wood. Sculptures can be wooden, ceramic or carved out of stone like the famous Shona sculptures.^[7] Various forms of textiles are made including chitenge, mud cloth and kente cloth. Mosaics made of butterfly wings or colored sand are popular in west Africa.

Makonde Carving c. 1974

Africa is home to a great and thriving contemporary art culture. This has been sadly understudied until recently, due to scholars' and art collectors' emphasis on traditional art. Notable modern artists include El Anatsui,Marlene Dumas, William Kentridge, Karel Nel, Kendell Geers, Yinka Shonibare, Zerihun Yetmgeta, Odhiambo Siangla, Olu Oguibe, Lubaina Himid, and Bili Bidjocka, Henry Tayali. Art bienniales are held in Dakar,Senegal, and Johannesburg, South Africa. Many contemporary African artists are represented in museum collections, and their art may sell for high prices at art auctions. Despite this, many contemporary African artists tend to have difficult times finding a market for their work. Many contemporary African arts borrow heavily from traditional predecessors. Ironically, this emphasis on abstraction is seen by Westerners as an imitation of European and American cubist and totemic artists, such as Pablo Picasso, Amedeo Modigliani and Henri Matisse, who, in the early twentieth century, were heavily influenced by traditional African art. This period was critical to the evolution of Western modernism in visual arts, symbolized by Picasso's breakthrough painting "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon."^[9]

Contemporary African art was pioneered in the 1950s and 1960s in South Africa by artists like Irma Stern, Cyril Fradan, Walter Battiss and through galleries like the Goodman Gallery in Johannesburg. More recently European galleries like the October Gallery in London and collectors such as Jean Pigozzi,^[10] Artur Walther^[11] and Gianni Baiocchi in Rome have helped expand the interest in the subject. Numerous exhibitions at the Museum for African Art in New York and the African Pavilion at the 2007 Venice Biennale, which showcased the Sindika Dokolo African Collection of Contemporary Art, have gone a long way to countering many of the myths and prejudices that haunt Contemporary African Art. The appointment of Nigerian Okwui Enwezor as artistic director of Documenta 11 and his African centred vision of art propelled the careers of countless African artists onto the international stage.

The gallery is located at: 

504 South Bay Front, Newport Beach, CA 92662

College of the Desert, Lot 3/Space #126A, Palm Desert 

Also visit our website:

www.Meyave.com

Cosmas Kamhiriri Muchenje

Cosmas was born on January 5^th, 1960 in Musana Communal Area near Bindura, Zimbabwe.  He showed an early interest in art at primary school, where he was the class illustrator, drawing charts and illustrating diagrams for the teachers.  About 10 years later, encouraged and supported by his mother, he decided to take up art as a profession.

He began painting after attending the Kuanda Art Center in 1980, and sculpting after joining the Canon Paterson Art Center.  Cosmas carved mainly in Verdite and produced beautiful abstract and realistic African Heads.   However, over the years and with encouragement from well known Zimbabwean sculptors like Edward Chiwawa and the late John Takawira, his work has matured.

Themes such as beauty are expressed in his works.  The likeness and relationships of human forms found in nature, such as the metamorphosis of plant life and antelopes with human, feminine features are his main themes.  His style shows gentleness, but embodies a sense of lyrical movement in his animal forms.  He is an artist of immense talent. You can find works from this artist at our gallery in Newport Beach, California.

EXHIBITIONS:

1987-1988     Nedlaw  Exhibitions

1992              Zimbabwe Heritage Exhibition – National Gallery

Cosmas has also participated in group exhibitions in Hong Kong, Europe, USA and Australia.

The gallery is located at: 

504 South Bay Front, Newport Beach, CA 92662

College of the Desert, Lot 3/Space #126A, Palm Desert 

Also visit our website:

www.Meyave.com

Contemporary African Interiors

Meyave promotes an African lifestyle image and continues to introduce a range of art which promotes local manufacturers and represents the top end of the African craft market. Strong associations are forged between local design teams and producers at all levels. Community projects are actively promoted and supported throughout the supply chain. Our exclusive ranges are continually refined and improved to stay ahead of international demands and trends.

A MOTHER AND CHILD STONE SCULPTURE

Our gallery is located in the prestigious community of Balboa Island, a exclusive suburb of Newport Beach. Not only are we able to ship individual orders to customers, but we also undertake to source, manufacture and supply to other stores around the globe. Through us you may order and take delivery of your very own African interior/exterior sculptures for your home anywhere in the world.

BATIKS

The gallery is located at: 

504 South Bay Front, Newport Beach, CA 92662

College of the Desert, Lot 3/Space #126A, Palm Desert 

Also visit our website:

www.Meyave.com

John Nengomasha - Stone Sculptor

John Nengomasha was born in the capital city of Harare on the 8^th of February  1981, at Harare Hospital. At the age of 3 years he moved, together with his family, from Harare to live in Chitungwiza. He is the eldest son in a family of three, two boys and a girl.

Nengomasha completed his academic studies, both primary and secondary level, in Chitungwiza where he reached up to O level and acquired good results. During his school days he showed great skill at drawing. His inspiration came from growing up in Chitungwiza, where mostly stone carving was practiced.

At the age of 14 years, John began his career polishing and finishing the sculptures of Lincon Muteta. He also worked with another sculptor, Tonderai Marezva. He acquired much experience through working with the already established sculptors. He later moved and began to do his own things as a fulltime sculptor.

John enjoys working with Springstone. His desire is to modernize Shona art from what was practiced by the first and second generation. He uses stone to express the movements in a person’s life.

Nengomasha has sold many of his sculptures in different galleries  throughout the world such as the United States of America, Germany, Belgium; and also in local galleries eg. The National Gallery of Zimbabwe, and Chapungu Sculpture Park.

John also has a passion for sports and frequently participates in rugby. He is thankful for his parents and for the support they gave him to create his sculptures.­­

The gallery is located at: 

504 South Bay Front, Newport Beach, CA 92662

College of the Desert, Lot 3/Space #126A, Palm Desert 

Also visit our website:

www.Meyave.com

The Importance of Stone Sculpture

Carving stone into sculpture is an activity older than civilization itself. Prehistoric sculptures were usually human forms, such as the Venus of Willendorf and the faceless statues of the Cycladic cultures of ancient Greece. Later cultures devised animal, human-animal and abstract forms in stone. 

The Venus of Willendorf

The process begins with the selection of a stone for carving. Some artists use the stone itself as inspiration; the renaissance artist Michelangelo claimed that his job was to free the human form trapped inside the block. Other artists begin with a form already in mind and find a stone to complement their vision. When the artist is ready to carve, they usually begin by knocking off large portions of unwanted stone. This is the "roughing out" stage of the sculpting process. Once the general shape of the statue has been determined, the sculptor uses other tools to refine the figure.

Eventually the sculptor has changed the stone from a rough block into the general shape of the finished statue.  

Sculpture from Zimbabwe already counts amongst the most important new art movements of the latter part of this century. This is confirmed not only by reputable art critics like Michael Shepherd of the (London) Sunday Telegraph and important museums, such as the Museum of Modern Art in New York or the Musée George Pompidou in Paris that have opened their doors to it but also by renowned art collectors like Prince Charles, the Rockefellers or the Rothschilds and during his life time even Pablo Picasso. All of them enriched their collections with Shona sculpture.

The gallery is located at: 

504 South Bay Front, Newport Beach, CA 92662

College of the Desert, Lot 3/Space #126A, Palm Desert 

Also visit our website:

www.Meyave.com

Bernard Nkanjo

Bernard Nkanjo (born March 24th, 1970) is a sculptor from Harare, Zimbabwe.

He completed his education in Harare and thereafter started working as an assistant to Garrison Machinjili. He was taught how to wash the sculptures, handle the tools, and different carving techniques, before he started carving on his own. Nkanjo studied for 3 years under renowned sculptor Garrison Machinjili. Today he often works alongside his brother, Snowden, where their love of birds is evident in both of their works. His brother is equally popular as a sculptor from Zimbabwe, and is famous for his birdbaths.

Over recent years his works have become increasingly popular among local and international buyers. His sets of birds engaged in varying activities have proven to be highly successful. 

Nkanjo is a keen observer of nature and he regularly visits the city’s dams and rivers to watch birds in their natural habitat. He is never without his sketchbook, which he uses to record their different poses and later translates them into sculptures. Bernard makes use of a combination of media, using stone for the bodies and metal for the legs of the birds. Occasionally wood is also used. His attention to detail is obvious, the composition of the group is outstanding, they are always full of movement, some are feeding whilst others look up as if watching for danger. All of these qualities make Bernard’s work simply irresistible. He works mostly in the various Serpentines but prefers to use Opal, when it is available. Always cheerful and hard working, Bernard is starting to find a place for himself in the ranks of Zimbabwe’s new generation of stone sculptors. 

Bernard is now married with two children, and lives and works in Chitungwiza.  In his spare time he loves to fish, hunt, and bird watch. 

You can purchase sculptures from Bernard Nkanjo at our gallery in Newport Beach or Palm Desert.

The gallery is located at: 

504 South Bay Front, Newport Beach, CA 92662

College of the Desert, Lot 3/Space #126A, Palm Desert 

Also visit our website:

www.Meyave.com

Peter Chidzonga

One of the most popular sculptors from Zimbabwe, Peter Chidzonga, first began sculpting in 1991. Although his parents were against it he pursued his love of sculpting and eventually he sold his first piece, for a good price, to a teacher at his school in Goteka. His grandparents then realized how valuable sculpture could be and gave him more support.

From 1995 to 1996 Peter worked with Ishmael's older brother Biggie Kapeta, a well-known sculptor, as his assistant at Chapungu Gallery. When his residency there ended Peter went back to Ishmael. In 1997 Ishmael died and Peter started working by himself.

Peter's work has been shown in galleries in Canada, UK, USA, the Netherlands, France and others, as well as at the prestigious Chapungu Gallery in Harare.

The gallery is located at: 

504 South Bay Front, Newport Beach, CA 92662

Also visit our website:

www.Meyave.com