London-based artist Kudzanai-Violet Hwami was born in Gutu, Zimbabwe in 1993 and her work reveals a deeply personal vision of Southern African life.

Her new solo show at Victoria Miro Gallery shows new work that draws on her experiences of geographical dislocation and displacement, her paintings combine visual fragments from a myriad of sources such as online images and personal photographs, which collapse past and present.

 

Powerful nudes are another point of departure, boldly raising questions about the black body and its representation, as well as sexuality, gender and spirituality. Her process involves experimenting with photography and digitally collaged images, using these to create large works on paper or canvas in combination with intensely pigmented oil paint, and often incorporating other media and techniques, such as silkscreen, pastel or charcoal.

Kudzanai-Violet Hwami currently is completing an MFA at the Ruskin School of Art at Oxford University.. In 2016, the same year she graduated from Wimbledon College of Arts with a Bachelor of Fine Arts, she was awarded the Clyde & Co. Award and the Young Achiever of the Year Award at the Zimbabwean International Women’s Awards, as well as being shortlisted for Bloomberg New Contemporaries. 

 

 

Kudzanai-Violet Hwami: 
When You Need Letters for Your Skin
3 September–6 November 2021
VICTORIA MIRO
16 Wharf Road, London N1 7RW

 

Review: Ris Fatah 

Queerguru’s newest contributor (when he can be bothered) is a successful fashion/luxury business consultant who divides and wastes his time between London and Ibiza. He is a lover of all things queer, feminist, and human rights in general. @ris.fatah