Wallen Mapondera, Zimbabwe
Good Samaritan, 2014.
About:
Zimbabwean artist Wallen Mapondera (b.1985) is a conceptual expressionist artist who works in a variety of media, including painting. He lives and works in Harare and graduated from the National Gallery school in 2007.
Like Toys, 2014.
Piggy Bank, 2014.
Friends for Sale, 2013.
In his ‘Social Zoometry’ series, Mapondera uses zoomorphic and anthropomorphic imagery to explore the use and abuse of animals in Zimbabwe – and across the continent – for both commercial and ritualistic purposes. In so doing, he comments more broadly on socio-political power relations and hierarchies. He poses uncomfortable questions to viewers, such as how we justify our often-hypocritical actions towards nature and towards each other. “We witness these abuses daily, read and hear about them, yet we do not take time to think and act upon them”, says Mapondera.
Echoes, 2015.
Mapondera has shown in multiple group and solo exhibitions in Zimbabwe; he has also exhibited in South Africa (AVA Cape Town, Greatmore Studios Cape Town), France, Germany, the Netherlands, Mozambique and Australia. He has won multiple awards in Zimbabwe.(text Guns & Rain)