Page 84 - Zimbabwe Stone Sculpure 1st Edition

ZIMBABWE STONE SCULPTURE
JOHN GUTSA
John was born in 1978 in Murewa, a small town in the rural north east, and he is part of a family of artists. His late brother, Jonathan, was a talented sculptor whose work was always part of Stone Dynamics Gallery. His cousin, Tapfuma Gutsa, had a studio-gallery called Utonga in New Tafara, Harare, and it was here that John learnt to sculpt. Tapfuma is a special talent and well-known sculptor and having him as mentor was a great start for John.
In 2000, he moved to Dominic Benhura’s studio and this is where I met him. His brother Jonathan introduced us. He is an exciting new talent because his repertoire of ideas and work is huge and he often has concepts that are totally unique. It was not a difficult decision to include his sculptures at Stone Dynamics Gallery.
Unusually for an artist of his generation, most of his stimulation stems from his rural beginnings. African village life and relationships form a broad part of his body of work. He has a fascination with wild animals and his abstract interpretation of elephants and giraffes, in particular, gives a new dimension to these subjects.
He explains: “I do different things – I have different feelings. I want to do things in a different way than is usual.”
“He has a fascination with wild animals and his abstract interpretation of elephants and giraffes, in particular, gives a new dimension to these subjects.”
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