VELAPHI MZIMBA

(b. 1959, Soweto, South Africa)

Born in Soweto outside Johannesburg in September 1959, Velaphi Mzimba's colourful paintings reflect the vibrancy and rapidly evolving environment of South Africa's black townships. Although he was deeply involved in the struggle for liberation against apartheid, his work shows no hint of anger or pain.  Instead his paintings have an infectious optimism that warms all viewers. This richness of spirit combined with an extraordinary technical virtuosity has no doubt led to the success that he has experienced over the last few years.

Mzimba's huge faces, young boys with heads made out of squashed cans and complex mixed media landscapes grace many public, corporate and private collections worldwide.  This success is not built upon clever marketing or the vagaries of fashion.  Mzimba's work constantly surprises and challenges his followers. Huge brooding and richly painted portraits of proud tribesman and women are painstakingly painted in his studio. These monumental works which drain his energies are interspersed with impish playful works that are often created from a myriad of seemingly unconnected found objects. Somehow in Mzimba's hands they are joined together to form intelligent and wonderfully decorative comments on everyday life in South Africa.

Having turned his hand to sculpting, Mzimba brings the same fascination with the wholesomeness of the everyday. His one-man show in Cape Town of his first bronzes was an exciting departure for the artist, the development of which we have watched with growing intrigue.

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS

2021     Gallery Exhibition, Everard Read, Cape Town, South Africa

2016     Opening Gallery Exhibition, Group Show, CIRCA Gallery, London, UK

2014     Solo exhibition, Everard Read, Cape Town, South Africa     

            People and Places, group exhibition, Imibala Gallery in association with Everard Read, South Africa     

2013     100, group show, Everard Read, Cape Town, South Africa     

            Possessed, group show, Everard Read, Cape Town, South Africa     

2012     Winter Exhibition, group show, Everard Read, Cape Town, South Africa     

2010     Khumalo, Mzimba, Dyaloyi, three man exhibition, Everard Read, Cape Town, South Africa     

             One man exhibition, Everard Read Johannesburg, South Africa     

                         View from the South, group exhibition, Everard Read, Cape Town, South Africa     

2006     One Man Exhibition, Everard Read, Cape Town, South Africa     

            Solo Exhibition,  Everard Read, Johannesburg,South Africa                 

            Recent Works, Solo Exhibition in London, Rebecca Hossack Gallery, South Africa     

2005     Solo Exhibition, Sculpture, Everard Read, Cape Town, South Africa     

2004     One Man Exhibition - Paintings Everard Read, Johannesburg, South Africa     

2002     Solo Show, Everard Read Cape Town, South Africa     

2000     ArtLondon, Duke of York’s Headquarters, Kings Road, London, UK

1999     Participated in ArtLondon Fair, Chelsea Barracks, London, UK

            One Man Exhibition, Everard Read Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa

1995     African Spirits, Everard Read Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa

            One Man Exhibition, LFK Gallery, Hong Kong

1994     Unity from Diversity, Solo Exhibition, Natalie Knight Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa

            Group Show, Knight Galleries International at the World Trade Centre, Toronto, "Windows on the New South Africa".             Sponsored by SAA

1993     The Spirit of Africa,  One Man show at the Natalie Knight Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa

            Cultural diversity, Group Show, Natalie Knight Gallery Johannesburg, South Africa

            South African Art Group Show, World Trade Centre in Toronto curated by the Knight Galleries International

1992     Group Exhibition,  Everard Read Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa

1990     African Encounters, Knight Galleries, International in Toronto, Canada

1987     Solo Exhibition, Windhoek, Namibia

1984     First One-mMan international show in Groomsport, Northern Ireland

1981     First one-man show at the Carlton Hotel, "South African Art"

PUBLIC COLLECTIONS

Fort Hare University, African Museum Sanlam, Sancorp, EMI, Anglo American,

Hunt Lascaris S.Africa,   Merrill Lynch S. Africa,   J.C.I. S. Africa.,   Alexander Forbes.

INTERNATIONAL COLLECTIONS

USA, Canada, Munich, Australia, UK, Japan, Geneva, South Africa, The Dallas Museum, Frankfurt, Germany

PUBLICATIONS

"Images of man" S.A. Artist Diary