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Often drawing on classic compositions from the Old Masters of European art history, Richard Mudariki reinterprets these iconic scenes with his own cast of human and animal characters, constructing a mise-en-scenewhich resituates the drama within a contemporary, Southern African social context. Mudariki tackles a widerange of political and social debates with an arresting and unique visual language characterized by bright colours, irrational spaces and perspectives, theatrical compositions and allegorical use of symbolism. Regularly appealing to the viewer’s sense of humour, Mudariki’s theatricality nevertheless maintains a restless, foreboding energy in its engagement with the duplicity and deception, which characterizes so much of contemporary politics. In the artist’s quotations of iconic moments in European art, he also questions notions of canonicity and accepted narratives of art history, considering his position – and the position of African artists more generally – within it.
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Available Works
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Richard Mudariki, Restorative Surgery, 2020
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Richard Mudariki, Passport Size Photo I, 2019
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Richard Mudariki, Time Trap, 2019
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Richard Mudariki, The Son of Afrika, 2019
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Richard Mudariki, Man of God, 2019
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Richard Mudariki, Selfie, 2019
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Richard Mudariki, Virtual Reality "VR" Sangoma, 2019
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Richard Mudariki, On Residency, 2016 - 2018
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Richard Mudariki, On Whatsapp, 2018
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Born and educated in Zimbabwe, Richard Mudariki studied under the mentorship of renowned painter Helen Lieros and Greg Shaw at Gallery Delta in Harare. He subsequently moved to South Africa and is now based in Cape Town.
The artist has presented solo exhibitions in Harare, Cape Town, Paris and New York and his work has been included in curated survey exhibitions at prestigious venues including IZIKO South African National Gallery, Cape Town and ZEITZ Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (MOCAA), Cape Town. The artist’s paintings have achieved consistently good results on the secondary market at auction including Sotheby’s, London sales of ‘Modern and Contemporary African Art’.
Mudariki’s work is represented in the collection of IZIKO South African National Gallery, Cape Town; SANLAM, Cape Town & Johannesburg; Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (MOCAA), Cape Town; The Leridon Collection, Paris; The West Collection, Philadelphia, USA and the Thomas J. Watson Library at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
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Press
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The artist’s much anticipated first solo exhibition at Barnard, entitled Maoneru Angu (My Reality II) was highly commended by collectors and critics alike and his paintings were subsequently presented at AKAA: Also Known as Africa (Barnard, Le Carreau du Temple, Paris, 2018). The artist’s work was also included in Centennial: A Century of Art from the Sanlam Art Collection 1918 – 2018 (SANLAM, Cape Town & Johannesburg, 2018); Five Bhobh: Painting at the End of an Era (Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa, Cape Town, 2018-2019) and Filling in the Gaps (IZIKO South African National Gallery, Cape Town, 2019).
In May 2019 Barnard produced a limited edition hard cover publication of the artist’s work; the book entitled Ndini Here (Is this me?) was launched in New York where Barnard presented Mudariki’s first solo show in North America at 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair in Manhattan. Curators from the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) expressed interest in the artist’s work and the West Collection, Philidelphia acquired two of his paintings.
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Publication: Ndini Here? (Is This Me?)
