Page 35 - Zimbabwe Stone Sculpure 1st Edition

2The art form today
Art is a dynamic force that is always changing and adapting, so Zimbabwe Stone Sculpture has been no different. Many people have been critical about whether the sculpture is typically Zim- babwean or African or if it has been influenced by mainly Western ideals.
When Stone Dynamics Gallery started in the 1980s, we were aware that the older, original stable of artists that McEwen had first worked with, sometimes called the ‘First Generation’, had obtained their inspiration from deep cultural and spiritual beliefs. McEwen encouraged them to do this probably to ensure a pure and refreshing new African sculpture. So they produced mystical, often almost grotesque but fascinating forms that combined human and animal features. These sculptures were very raw and powerful and had mystical and anthropomorphic connotations.
However, these artists had already been introduced to Western art and had probably seen the work of a huge range of European artists from the early exhibitions arranged by McEwen at the National Gallery. Work from Rembrandt, Picasso and Henry Moore was shown. McEwen organized about 80 exhibitions in the first five years he was Director and the art was borrowed from collectors, the Tate and the National Gallery in London.
Many of the next generation of sculptors, sometimes referred to as the ‘Second Generation’, emerged from the stables of these established early artists. They did not have any restraints put on them and they started to experiment in the mid to late 1980s. The work of artists like Brighton Sango, Zachariah Njobo, Ernest Chiwaridzo and Dominic Ben- hura produced an exciting new contemporary style. The message in the art was easier for the mainly Western market to understand and the beautiful clean lines and finish appealed as well. This sculpture had a much wider audience and even the established artists like Nicholas Mukomberanwa started to experiment and had more commercial
“Art is a dynamic force that is always changing and adapting, so Zimbabwe Stone Sculpture has been no different.”
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