Notes

Born in 1987 in Rusape, Zimbabwe, Wycliffe Mundopa is one of the most passionate and committed painters of the lives of women and children in Harare’s underprivileged neighbourhoods. His works speak with passion at anger, cynicism, compassion, and, most of all, with relentless commitment to acknowledge those too often swept under the carpet by society. Mundopa’s work also becomes an opportunity to see how painfully and vibrantly women’s lives reflect the conflicts of tradition and change in contemporary life in Zimbabwe, from the clash of moral codes to the economic strain, which turns children into adults too soon. He presents people without adornment or judgment —mothers, prostitutes, caregivers, breadwinners, the beautiful and the ugly, the selfish and the greedy. His exceptional skill as a draftsman brings a masterful ease to his paintings, as well as stencil collages and spray-paint drawing/painting. It has also won him acclaim and popularity with both collectors and critics.

Mundopa received a National Certificate of Fine Art from the National Gallery of Zimbabwe Visual Art Studios in 2007. In 2018, he held the Africa First Residency in Israel along with fellow artists Helen Teede and Wycliffe Mundopa. He received the FNB Art Prize in 2021. His works are collected and exhibited as far wide as Norway, Thailand, the USA, Nigeria, Hong Kong, Kenya, Australia, France, the UK, Germany, The Netherlands, Cameroon, and Equatorial Guinea. Mundopa lives and works in Harare, Zimbabwe.

Biography courtesy of Africa First.

Provenance

First Floor Gallery Harare, Zimbabwe, 2017.

Africa First, 2023.