adminGallery Delta Foundation for Art and the Humanities has paid tribute to its late friend, trustee and first chairman Friedbert Lutz with an art competition and exhibition a year after his demise.
He established his true friendship with the gallery since his presence at its launch in April 1975 and thereafter he regularly attended its exhibitions when he was available.
He was a passionate art appreciator and collector who ranked art as special and artists second only to the spiritual person in the pyramid of vocations. Amongst his many friends including those of Gallery Delta he invariably found ways to various arising challenges hence the exhibition being themed “Way-Finding”.
Friedbert’s daughter Christina Wood said the Lutz/Wood family were proud to sponsor the visual art competition and exhibition and the artworks represented the invited participants’ own considerations of way-finding when faced with various hurdles in their lives.
The Gallery and the Lutz/Wood family were grateful for the diverse and thought-provoking interpretations of the theme by the artists.
Of the three rewarded overall awards each from the categories of painting, graphics and multi-media presented by Christina Wood
herself, there were no surprises as previous multi award winners Webster Mubayireni, Admire Kamudzengerere and Masimba Hwati respectively took to the podium. Webster was rewarded for his painting titled “Cane” whilst Admire Kamudzengerere was recognised for his silk screen, collage and lithograph combination in “Ghosting around empty corridors” and Masimba was phenomenal with his mixed media “Tree of Light”.
There was special mention for Ngonidzashe Tsiga’s remarkable installation of constructed found objects titled “Different Routes, Same Destination”.
For about a decade now we have known Masimba Hwati for his fascination with found objects and the amount of energy they possess, his unlimited skills that enable him to create all sorts with master precision from tailoring, being a cobbler, a blacksmith, a ceramist to mention a few.
For this long his works have had intrigue.
Each and every work, whether of animal, vegetable or mineral components, convey a sincerity to his chosen theme and media and proves his individuality, and above all, his unique talent.
His “Tree of Light” in this tribute show testifies he has travelled miles further mastering the unimaginable. The swinging giant hangs by fish-line from a three and half meter high ceiling dropping to almost touch the ancient multi natural browns coloured wooden floor tiles.
The piece is balanced by three different sized grey metallic flat bar circles swinging with maximum tension on the lines that connect them.
The smallest circle hangs at the top followed about three quarters of a meter down by the largest then the middle sized about half a meter further down.
Numerous small art pieces of shapes and sizes swing at different levels hung by various lengths of twine tied to the respective holes.
A significant number of the small swinging pieces are of immaculate black and white drawings of various subjects laminated in perfect compact disc sized glass with small centre holes and tiny single ones at the edges where they hang from.
Other pieces are of multi coloured chicken back feathers clipped by wooden washing pegs swinging at twine ends whilst some stressed ones go through double holes of big ugly plastic buttons of different colours to be tied to other washing pegs squeezing other pieces.
It’s no secret that Masimba’s better-half has been left stranded with no pegs to hang dry her family laundry and the list of small interactive artworks go on.
It’s unfortunate the whole amazing piece cannot be well photographed without full-house equipment because of the space and lighting, ordinarily it can only be presented well in details.
This latest offering from Hwati came as no surprise as he has been at it several times before but with varying materials at different mastery stages now with intense complexity.
He has done precise free hand wood carving producing replicas of perfect spherical shapes, well sanded to expose undisputed nature’s designs of grain marks on selected dead trees in the creation of “Beetroots”.
The sublime attachment of genuine leather strips well tied together to the wood balls creating the roots of the edible plants in an artwork that possessed superb composition and perfection that left the viewer to adduce an interpretation.
Other interesting artworks of the show include “African Tabernacle” by Munesushe Mupandawana, “The Crucifix and the Embattled Institution” by Arthur Azevedo,”‘Way Block” by Antony Chidyamatiyo, “Thousand Miles” by Terence Musekiwa, “Progress, Mobility, Opportunity” by Clive Mukucha to mention a few.
Other participants include established Albert Wachi, Julius Mushambadope, Marjorie Wallace, Helen Lieros, Wallen Mapondera and many more. The exhibition will be brought down towards the end of August 2014.
The exhibition proved a great success with quality works on display.
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