63 - ‡ MOSTAFF MUCHAWAYA (ZIMBABWEAN B.1981)

‡ MOSTAFF MUCHAWAYA (ZIMBABWEAN B.1981) UNTITLED signed and dated Mostoff / 2020 lower right; inscribed and dated Untitled 2018 on the reverse acrylic and mixed media on canvas 65.5 x 56cm (67.5 x 58cm framed) Property from an Important International Collection Provenance Patrick Halliday Acquired from the above by the present owner Mostaff Muchawaya is a prominent contemporary Zimbabwean painter whose heavily textured portraits explore the fragile, cyclical nature of human memory. Born in Nyazura, in Zimbabwe's Manicaland province, he grew up on a white-owned tobacco farm where his parents worked. At twelve, inspired by watching the farm owner's daughter paint and lacking art supplies, he began moulding clay toys and sketching the farm animals. From 2002 to 2003, Muchawaya studied at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe School of Visual Arts and Design in Harare, where he connected with figures including his mentor Misheck Masamvu, who helped shape his visual language. Now based in Harare, he has gained significant international recognition, with solo presentations at SMAC Gallery in Cape Town, exhibitions with Duende Art Projects in Europe, inclusion in the 22nd Biennale of Sydney and work in the permanent collection of Zeitz MOCAA. Mostaff Muchawaya creates multi-layered landscapes and portraits of people drawn from memories of his upbringing. Muchawaya’s portraits are a complex confluence of portraiture and self-portraiture, autobiography, and fiction. In his work, the artist expresses a deep connection to his memories and experiences, which are inseparable from ‘his people’ and surroundings. He continuously refers to his rural upbringing; his art serves as a safe space, and a home he continually reverts to.