Artist Database

Born in Bulawayo (Zimbabwe), Greatjoy Ndlovu is a full-time visual artist based in Johannesburg, South Africa. He studied Art at Cyrene Mission in the southern part of Matabeleland region. He has been exhibiting in local and international art fairs and galleries; Greatjoy retains an ever-growing number of faithful collectors worldwide. His current body of work renders more of its focus on the portrayal of masculinity, identity and the abstract representation of the nature of thought conceptions, particularly in light of mindset generation as expressed in his 2019 series “Conversations of a Man. Greatjoy’s style notably kisses expressionistic and representational ideas with figurative drawings, while retaining an enthralling tinge of abstraction that frequently lurks in his works. Included also in his works are mind piercing forms of portraiture which seek to decipher internal truths and meanings with such lightness of detail, rather than merely beaming goodly but shallow surficial semblances. Greatjoy’s work starts from light-hearted, experimental sketches that develop into large scale detailed works or even an entire series without losing an experimental element that so characterizes his work.

His work is strongly influenced by challenges incurred by men in society. It aims to table talk and to inspire men and the greater society to raise and tackle these challenges with an elevated degree of seriosity, and it also presses more on the need to help socialize and educate our young boys differently. These notions are carved out from personal experiences lived and are contained and well referenced in his autobiographical art book, “The Path to Greatjoy”. The book has come to resonate with many art enthusiasts around the globe as an engrossing read for keeps for passionate art lovers. Greatjoy’s work forms a part of various art troves of collectors, the likes of the famous comedian Trevor Noah, Ava DuVernay, ABSA Bank, South African Horizons, Invisionit Capital Solutions, Vision Capital Management, GAPP Architects and Array now Studios in Los Angeles.