(Still from) Iyeza - 2012

DVD, Runtime : 11 Min

(Still from) Moyo - 2013

Single channel video,
Runtime : 55 min 33 sec

Conflict Resolution - 2012

64 x 45.5 cm
Lithograph x 6

Revelations V - 2011

120 x 180 cm
Ultrachrome ink on photo fibre paper

Revelations VI - 2011

120 x 169.5 x 6 cm
Ultrachrome ink on photo fibre paper

Revelations VII - 2011

120 x 230 cm
Ultrachrome ink on photo fibre paper

The Minister of Arts and Culture - 2009

150 x 100 cm
Ultrachrome ink on photo fibre paper

The Minister of Defence - 2009

150 x 100 cm
Ultrachome ink on photo fibre paper

The Minister of Education - 2009

150 x 100 cm
Ultrachrome ink on photo fibre paper

The Minister of Finance - 2009

150 x 100 cm
Ultrachrome ink on photo fiber paper

The Minister of Health - 2009

150 x 100 cm
Ultrachrome ink on photo fibre paper

Kudzanai Chiurai

Born in 1981, Zimbabwe.

Lives and works in Harare, Zimbabwe.

Chiurai’s scathing theatrical compositions about African power and corruption have won him a growing following. Born one year after Zimbawe’s emergence from white-ruled Rhodesia – Chiurai’s early work focused on the political, economic and social strife in his homeland. After leaving his home in Harare in 1999, he studied Fine Art at the University of Pretoria, where he was the first black student to graduate. He then became involved with exile politics and the growing opposition to President Robert Mugabe. He has not returned to his country since.

His works fluidly draw from hip-hop, street art, youth culture and graffiti. He explores themes of urban space, exile, xenophobia, and displacement, as well as the constructed nature of African states and the performative guises of leaders.The photographed presented here are part of a satirical series « The Parliament », of over the top, mock portraits. It depicts the fictitious characters of an imaginary government cabinet in a parody of media representations of masculinity and political power. The series draws upon the conventions of African studio portraiture, dramatised magazine features, hip-hop, film and fashion as well as the story lines, stereotyped characters and plots of soap operas.

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2019

Genesis [Je n’isi isi]- We Live in Silence,IFA, Stuttgart, Germany

2019

Madness and Civiliazation, Södertälje Konsthall, Stockholm, Sweden

2018

Madness and Civilization_, Kalmar Konsmuseum, Kalmar, Sweden

2018

We Live in Silence, Mariane Ibrahim Gallery, Seattle, USA

2018

Madness and Civilization, Goodman Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa

2018

While the Harvest Rots, Lundgren Gallery, Palma, Spain

2017

We need new names, National Gallery, Harare, Zimbabwe

2017

Regarding the Ease of Others, Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa, Cape Town, South Africa

2017

We live in silence, Goodman Gallery and The Women’s Jail at Constitution Hill, Johannesburg, South Africa

2015

Selections From Revelations, Museum of Contemporary African Diaspora Arts, Brooklyn, USA

2014/2015

Defining the State of the Nation, Zeitz MOCAA Pavillion, V & A Waterfront, Cape Town, South Africa

2014

This is not Africa, this is Us, Part I: Kunstahal Rotterdam, The Netherlands

2013

Harvest of Thorns, Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa

2013

16 SNLV, 50 GwiGwi Mrwebi Street, Johannesburg, South Africa

2013

Front Page , Mallorca Landings, Spain

2012

The Harvest of Thorns , The Assylem Atelje, Johannesburg, South Africa

2012 Conflict resolution, Co-op, Johannesburg, South Africa

2011

State of the Nation, Goodman Gallery project space, Arts on Main, Johannesburg, South Africa

2010

Communists and hot chicken wings: the birth of a new nation, Goodman Gallery project space, Arts on Main, Johannesburg, South Africa

2009

Dying To Be Men, Goodman Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa

2008

Yellow Lines, Obert Contemporary, Johannesburg, South Africa

2007

Graceland, Obert Contemporary, Johannesburg, South Africa

2005

Y Propaganda, Obert Contemporary, Johannesburg, South Africa

2004

Correction: The Revolution Will Be Televised, Obert Contemporary, Johannesburg, South Africa

2003

The revolution will not be televised, Brixton Art Gallery, London

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2019

I've grown roses in this garden of mine, Goodman Gallery, London, UK

2019

Acts of Reading, Goodman Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa

2019

Inheritance: New Video Art by Kudzanai Chiurai, Zina Saro-Wiwa and Mikhael Subotzky, Fowler Museum, UCLA, Los Angeles, USA

2018

We Live in Silence (Chapters 1-7) in collaboration with M.anifest, RE:Publica, Accra, Ghana

2018

Women on Aeroplanes, Museom of Modern Art in Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland

2018

Now and Then: Guercino and Kudzanai Chiurai, Zeitz MOCAA, Cape Town, South Africa

2018

Beyond Borders: Global Africa, UMMA, Michigan, USA

2018

Dress Up, Speak Up: Costume and Confrontation, 21c Hotel Museum, Louisville, USA

2018

The Red Hour, 13th Biennale of Contemporary African Art, Dakar, Senegal

2018

In Their Own Form, Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago, USA

2018

After the Thrill is Gone: Fashion, Politics, and Culture in Contemporary South African Art, Museum of the African Diaspora, San Francisco, USA

2018

Ex Africa, Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

2017

Ex Africa, CCBB Belo Horizonte, Brasil

2017

After the Thrill is Gone: Fashion, Politics, and Culture in Contemporary South African Art, College of Wooster Art Museum, Wooster, USA

2017

africa. Telling A World., Padiglione d’Arte Contemporanea, Milan, Italy

2017

A Short History of South African Photography, Fotografia Europea, Chiostri di San Pietro, Reggio Emilia, Italy

2017

Art/Afrique, Le nouvel atelier , Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris, France

2017

New Acquisitions: Standard Bank Corporate Collection, Standard Bank Art Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa

2016

Making Africa - A Continent of Contemporary Design, CCCB, Barcelona, Spain

2016

New Revolutions, Godman Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa

2016

Slowtrack, ARCO Lisboa, Portugal.

2016

Kabbo Ka Mulwala, National Gallery of Zimbabue, Harare

2015

Making Africa: un continente de diseño contemporáneo, Guggenheim Bilbao, Spain

2015

Slowtrack, Zona MACO Foto, México

2015

The Divine Comedy: Heaven, Hell, Purgatory Revisited_ by Contemporary African Artists, SCAD Museum of Art, Savannah, USA

2015

Johannesburg Pavilion, Venice Biennale, Italy

2014

Future Generation Art Prize, Victor Pinchuk Foundation, Kiev, Ukraine

2014

Staging Reality, Lagos Photo Festival, Nigeria

2014

Vision of Africa, Addis Photo festival, Ethiopia

2014

Luminós/C/ity.Ordinary Joy: From the Pigozzi Contemporary African Art Collection, Ethelbert Cooper Gallery of African & African American Art, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA

2014

Nevralgies, Galarie Maia Muller, Paris, France

2014

Daegue Biennale, South Korea

2014

Arles Discovery Award Exhibition, Arles, France

2014

Surfacing, Goodman Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa

2014

This is not Africa, this is Us, Part III: West den Haag, The Netherlands

2014

This is not Africa, this is Us, Part II: Art Rotterdam, The Netherlands

2014

The Divine Comedy: Heaven, Hell, Purgatory Revisited by Contemporary African Artists, MMK Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

2013/2015

Distance and Desire: Encounters with the African Archive, Walther Collection, Ulm Germany

2013/2014

Pop Goes the Revolution, New Church, Cape Town, South Africa

2013

LagosPhoto 2013: The Megacity and the Non-City , Art21, Victoria Island, Lagos

2013

The Beautyful Ones, Nolan Judin Gallery, Berlin, Germany

2013

My Joburg, La Maison Rouge, Paris, France

2013

!Kauru, Pretoria Art Museum, Pretoria, South Africa

2013

eMerging: Visual Art and Music in a Post-Hip-Hop Era, Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts, (MoCADA), New York City borough of Brooklyn, USA

2013

Making Way: Contemporary Art from South Africa and China, Standard Bank Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa

2013

New Frontier, Sundance Film Festival, Park City, Utah, USA

2012

Video Artprojx, Art Basel Miami Beach, Miami, USA

2012

dOCUMENTA (13), Kassel, Germany

2011

Figures & Fictions: Contemporary South African Photography , Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK

2011

über(W)unden – Art in troubled times, Goethe- Institut South Africa

2011

Impressions from South Africa , 1965 to Now, Museum of Modern Art in New York, USA

2010

Cairo Biennale, Cairo, Egypt

2010

Its greener on the other side, Co-op, Johannesburg, South Africa

2010

In other words, Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa

2010

Photo Ireland festival, Dublin, Ireland

2010

SPace: Currencies in Contemporary African Art, Museum Africa, Johannesburg, South Africa

2010

For those that live in it, MU, The Netherlands

2009

ParisPhoto Exhibition, Paris, France

2009

Us, Johannesburg Art Gallery, South Africa

2009

Armory Show, Goodman Gallery, New York, USA

2009

Joburg Art Fair, Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa

2009

Nation State, Goodman Gallery Cape Town and Johannesburg, South Africa

2008

Melbourne Stencil Festival, Melbourne, Australia

2008

Africa Now, Round Tower, Copenhagen; Northern Norway Art Centre, Lofoten, Norway; and Tampere art museum, Finland

2006

Dak’art, Dakar, Senegal

2006

New Painting, KZNSA, Durban, South Africa

2005

Melrose Art, Obert Contemporary, Johannesburg, South Africa

2005

Reconciliation, University of Pretoria, South Africa

BIBLIOGRAPHY

2021

Finestre sull' Arte, N°10 - Arte Antica E Contemporanea Giugno Luglio Agosto - Italy. pp.146-159

2015

Amelie Klein, Making Africa - A Continent of Contemporary Design, Vitra Design Museum catalogue, pg. 112-113

2012

Lodi Matsetela (ed) Lines Volume 3. STATE OF THE NATION, Goodman Gallery

2011

Lien Heidenreich-Seleme & Sean O’Toole (eds), über(w)unden: Art in Troubled Times, Jacana Media

2011

Peter Anders and Matthew Krouse (eds), Positions: Contemporary South African Artists, Jacana Media

2010

Mbali Soga (ed), Lines Volume 2. THE BLACK PRESIDENT, Goodman Gallery

2009

Lauren Cornell, Massimiliano Gioni, and Laura Hoptman (eds), Younger Than Jesus: The Reader, New Museum and Steidl

2008

Lines Volume 1. YELLOW LINES