Chronicle Editor
Patrick Chitumba, Midlands Bureau Chief
ON the second of February the Los Angeles Times led with a screaming headline: “Grammys, you have one job on Sunday: Give Beyoncé album of the year.”
The Los Angeles Times, abbreviated as LA Times, is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. It is a leading source of breaking news, entertainment, sports, politics, and more for Southern California and the world.
Beyonce won four Grammys that Sunday. Beyoncé’s four victories at the Grammy Awards – for Best Dance/Electronic Recording, Best Traditional R&B Performance, Best R&B Song, and Best Dance/Electronic Music Album – brought her to a grand total of 32 Grammys in her career, officially taking her past conductor Georg Solti, who previously held the record with 31 wins.
Complementing that story was a beautiful digital artwork of Beyonce with a floating Grammy gong. What is unknown is that the art was done by a Zimbabwean.
His name is Leon Msipa (19) who goes by @Leonsrandoms on Instagram.
In an interview, Msipa who resides in Gweru, said having his art featured in the Los Angeles Times was a milestone that means a lot to him.
“The LA Times is a huge news outlet and being able to grace the cover page with my artwork is something I’m eternally grateful for, it reassures me that people love the work I’m making and it has given me the opportunity to have many more people see my art,” he said.
Asked how he got the gig, Msipa responded, “The senior Art Director of the LA Times reached out to me personally through Instagram, they had seen my art and felt my style was the perfect match for what they were looking for with this cover.”
Msipa said before he was contacted by the LA Times – he never dreamt of finding his art featured in newspapers or magazines in the USA.
“It’s certainly a huge milestone, at my age having my art plastered on such a platform means everything to me, seeing my art reach audiences and circles I never thought possible, it assures me that the art I make appeals to people and definitely inspires me to keep going and creating more,” he explained.
Msipa, who was born in Bulawayo, said it took him a week to start and complete the masterpiece.
“The piece took about a week to complete as we were working with a tight schedule.
It felt surreal even after I had started the work, it’s something I never would’ve imagined happening, it was definitely an uplifting moment to think that my art could be desired at such a level, there was certainly a lot of pressure but the team from the LA Times loved the final work and that certainly made me happy.”
Msipa said he is inspired by everything that is around him.
“I have a habit of always wanting to incorporate things that I do, see or feel into my art whether that be from other artists, media, my life experiences and the world around me. I keep a mental library of the things that stand out to me and I incorporate these into the portrait pieces that I make,” he said.
Msipa said his work highlights and celebrates black culture as a whole adding that he has been making art from a tender age.
“I always have something new and I have this urge to continue to do so thanks to all the encouragement I receive from my peers and anyone who interacts with my artwork, I have received messages from fellow artists and peers in Zimbabwe who tell me that I inspire and motivate them, and that to me at my age means everything, being able to spark creativity and interest in art in other people drives me to want to do more with my art,” he said.
Msipa, who only began making digital art in 2020, has worked with MTV for black history month where he made album art for numerous musicians and received international recognition.
He said social media has made it easier for him to grow an audience and following.
Because his artwork is digital, Msipa makes use of his iPad.
“The whole process of sketching and painting is done on the device, and how I would describe my art is semi-realism portraiture although I’ve made numerous other pieces that don’t fall under that category.”
The soft-spoken Leon, who certainly has one of the best smiles, is not new to world-class displays after his art was last year featured on a digital billboard at the New York Times Square.
Msipa’s artwork was selected from over 1 500 artists who applied for a feature in the NYC NFT Diversity of Art Showcase. The art was shown in the NYC NFT Event Atrium.cool.
Times Square in NYC is a major tourist destination as well as a major commercial intersection. It is famous for its large billboards and screens which is where Msipa’s artwork was exhibited.
His works were also displayed in and outside of the Marriott Marquis.
Msipa completed his “A” Level studies at the prestigious Midlands Christian College (MCC) in Gweru last year and will pursue a Degree in Architecture in South Africa.
Online Reporter