'' Wesley Mawema's stone sculpture's are resolute in style and are nuanced
by Modernism;revealing strength in skill,technique and personal
perspective''.
-Angela Di Bello-Agora Gallery Director ,Editor in
Chief of ArtisSpectrum Magazine,New York-2006
The work of Wesley Mawema is a testament to Shona Sculpture, a sculptural movement begun in Africa in the twentieth century and becoming collected
throughout the world. “Shona” is an African way of life that believes in the fundamental relationship between the physical world and the spiritual world. Shona sculptures are an expression of the belief that every rock contains a
“spirit essence that will influence how the stone will be shaped.” The work
of Mawema is a stunning example of this dual relationship between the
material and the art derived from it. Though simple in form, the profundity
of Mawema’s work is evident through his precision and his graceful style.
Wesely Mawema is originally from Victoria Falls, Zimbawe and learned the
Shona Sculptural style from his father. He states that his work is inspired
by “a belief in hope, compassion and the human spirit.” Wesely Mawema
currently lives and works in British Columbia.
-Art-Mine.com Press Release-2006
“Do you wonder if art 'is for you'? Or do you
wish that you could give something positive from your
heart to Zimbabwe? Or are you a connoisseur and collector
of very fine art?
When as an art journalist many years ago, I first saw
stone sculpture from Zimbabwe, I simply could not believe
that its quality was not a brilliant 'lift' from the
work of Brancusi, Modigliani, Picasso and others. Then
I investigated further and found that after 500 years
of lost tradition, carving the stone of Zimbabwe - a
country with a wider variety of hard stone of several
colours than anywhere else - had begun again, and was
already of world class. And now today a younger generation
has taken up this demanding, patient art of carving
hard stone (with hand tools . . . ) and brought new
imagination to this. From a magnificently proud - and
superbly carved ã 'Beauty Queen' to caring mothers
and their sleepy, secure babies, to the spirits that
look over Africa, its people, its animals, its trees
and birds and vegetation, this is world-class sculpture
- but even more than that, it is art from the heart
that touches the heart. This is an enchanting glimpse
into the hard work and humanity that lies behind the
creation of this work.
I have praised Zimbabwean stone sculpture in the media
for many years now, and known it to touch many hearts.
I am very happy that I need not take back a single word
of that praise. And even happier, that this sculpture
has been taken up by the younger generation and has
flowered beyond all expectation. Go and give it your
support. It is phenomenal - a glimpse of what Africa
has to offer the world in this century, which seems
to have started so terribly.”
- Art Reviewer Michael Shepherd (Sunday Telegraph) -
London, 2005
“But in Africa a great movement is stirring...Something
new is happening here, a fresh creative flood that will
burst out to give a new dimension to international expression”
- Arts Review, London 1962 (Institute
of Contemporary Art exhibit)
“ the exhibition at the Musee Rodin...was a myriad
spectacle of form, color,substance and line that filled
the viewers with that intangible quality through which
nonverbal communication is perceived and received. This
was art in its ultimate dimension”
- African Arts, Los Angeles USA
1971 (Musee Rodin exhibit, Paris)
To see the exhibition is to realize that Shona sculpture
has come of age and should be better appreciated internationally.”
- The Times, London 1981
“It is this urge to manifest the connection between
the physical world and the world of cause and spirit
which takes Shona sculpture into that major league of
art and sculpture and humanity’s profoundest expressions.”
- Sunday Telegraph, London 1983
“These marvellous Shona sculptors from Zimbabwe...speak
for Africa, but they also speak for us all; they restore
a dignity to art which it is in danger of losing.”
- The Sunday Telegraph, London
1984
“Now that Henry Moore is dead, who is the greatest
stonecarver in the world? In my experience there are
three outstanding contenders...and all three come from
Zimbabwe.”
- Art Review, London 1988
“The quality of finish, the style and the concept
of the work add up top the most complete definition
of late 20th Century sculpture...clean, sharp creativity
produces work which I should call great as well as beautiful.”
- Irish Sunday Independent, Dublin,
1989
“This is the birth of a great national art, capable
of speaking about the whole of creation, from personal
and family feeling to the world of spirits, soul and
self. It is a thrilling adventure of contemporary art”.
- Arts Review, London 1990 (Yorkshire
Sculpture Park, Wakefield, England)
“these giant stone sculptures are the most hauntingly
evocative images africa in the past century...the greatest
contemporary collection of African art ever seen in
this country.”
- Evening Standard, London 2000
“This exhibit gently pulls us back to re-examine
the source from which most contemporary art has evolved.
These Zimbabweans sculptures have gone beyond the roots
of mankind to a place which existed before in the heart
and essence of the stone.”
- The Globe, Arizona 2002
" The hottest art form out of Africa continues
to be the Shona stone carvings from Zimbabwe. Considered
to be among the best carvers in the world, the top Shona
sculptors have drawn critics' raves at various exhibits
in Europe - in London, Frankfurt, Paris, Vienna, Stockholm
and the Hague and even America."
- The New York Newsday - Les Payne
Shona sculpture is perhaps the most important new art
form to emerge from Africa in this century.
- Newsweek
...unlike art found in much of the rest of Africa, Shona
sculpture...has become a wholly indigenous modern art
form created exclusively as a form of artistic expression.
- New York Times
Picasso was an admirer of early Shona sculpture; now
evidence is surfacing that he was influenced by it,
too.
- Town & Country Magazine
The world's best unrecognized sculptors.
- The Economist
During the past decade, Zimbabwe Shona Sculpture has
become the most collected form of African art.It has
found its way into important repositories such as the
Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Rodin Museum,
and into the homes of the Rockefellers and the Prince
of Wales.
- The Oregonian
If the perfection of art is measured purely by emotional
expressive power, then this art is beyond perfection.
- West Indian World
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