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Lovemore Bonjisi
(b. 1985 Zimbabwe)
Respected
Shona art critic and curator Celia Winter Irving has described Lovemore
as “the Shona Michelangelo “, writing in the Herald, Zimbabwe’s main
daily newspaper.
Lovemore Bonjisi was born in January 1985 in Ruwa, Zimbabwe. Though he’s
the youngest in the Bonjisi family of stone sculptors, he has proved to
be the most dynamic artist by far, thanks to years of training by his
brother Lameck (now deceased), one of Zimbabwe’s more successful stone
sculptors. Lameck introduced Lovemore to the art of stone sculpture at
the age of 12. He could not attend high school as he didn’t have a birth
certificate so he had no choice but to assist brother Lameck by sanding
and polishing Lameck’s pieces.
As he progressed,
Lameck would give him small raw stones to work on and Lovemore’s
creative nature was unleashed. By the age of 14 he was producing
sculptures that appealed to many of the art dealers who visited Lameck.
They encouraged Lovemore to work on bigger pieces and his art career
began. Even in the shadow of his more famous brother, Lovemore’s work
attracted many who viewed it. Lovemore says “a sculpture already exists
in the stone before you start on it. All I do as an artist is to remove
the unwanted material to reveal the hidden sculpture hidden within –
it’s like cutting a diamond.” His work is dynamic and fluid, coupled
with sharp angles and smooth long necks with life like faces. He cites
as the reference for his work the legendary sculptor Nicholas
Mukomberanwa, who in turn taught Lameck Bonjisi, who then passed on this
knowledge. These two generations of great stone sculptors have helped to
shape his career.
Lovemore’s work has
been exhibited in galleries around the world. He was voted most
promising sculptor by the Alexander Gallery (Spain) in 2004. His most
recent exhibition was an open exhibition at the National Gallery
Zimbabwe in Harare. His works are in high demand and held in private
collections worldwide.
Jones & Terwilliger
Galleries in Palm Desert is proud to represent his sculpture in southern
California.
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