Artists

Gresham Tapiwa Nyaude was born in 1988 in Harare, Zimbabwe where he currently lives and works. Mbare is Harare’s – and perhaps Zimbabwe’s – most vibrant and notorious ghetto. Allegedly ridden with hooliganism, violence, and prostitution, Mbare is said to parallel the conditions of Harare for Zimbabweans during the colonial segregation era (in respect of its hardship and quality of living space). To this day, Mbare retains the character of a port city with its trade, shady deals, and otherwise bustle of unremitting human traffic amid urban decay. Born and raised in Mbare, Nyaude works against the sweeping identity that has been defined by the voice of the state. His images oscillate between figuration, abstraction, and hallucination, drawing from the restless energy of the ghetto. Living on the verge between survival and demise has been somewhat of a call to poetry, at times proving brutal and at others sentimental or cynically satirical. His figures defy characterisation, underscored by the humanity of their quest to attain a quality of life that appears even beyond the reach of dreams.

Nyaude’s work has achieved wide international critical and collector recognition. 2018 was a pivotal year for his career: in the spring, he presented a major body of work in the USA as part of Songs for Sabotage at the New Museum Triennial and, in the summer, he participated at the Africa First Residency in Israel along with fellow artists Helen Teede and Wycliffe Mundopa. Following the residency, Serge Tiroche donated one of the works Nyaude produced to the collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art. His works can also be found in the Museum of Contemporary African Art Al Maaden (MACAAL), Marrakesh, Morocco; Rubell Family Collection, USA; Jorge Perez personal collection; and numerous notable private collections.

Biography courtesy of Africa First.