Celia Winter-Irving (respected Shona art critic and ex-curator of the National Gallery in Harare) described artist Lovemore Bonjisi as ‘The Shona Michelangelo’.
Lovemore Bonjisi was born in January 1985 in Ruwa, a small town just east of Zimbabwe’s capital Harare. He is the youngest in a large family, many of whom are stone sculptors.
Initially, Lovemore’s brother Lameck (now deceased), who was a well-known sculptor, taught him to sculpt.
Lovemore cites as his inspiration the late, great Zimbabwean sculptor Nicholas Mukomberanwa, who was Lameck’s teacher and mentor. Significantly, Nicholas’ influential sculptures often have stylized faces and cubist forms. As a result, one can see this influence filtering down through the generations.
Lovemore’s work is elegant and fluid, combining graceful stylised forms with faces full of beauty.
Many galleries have exhibited Lovemore’s work, including:
- Contemporary Fine Art Gallery (Eton, UK)
- Passion in Stone Exhibition (Sydney, Australia)
- Alexander Gallery (Spain), who voted him Most Promising Sculptor in 2004.
There are more super sculptures by Lovemore Bonjisi available through our other company, Guruve, an online gallery based in the UK.
Click on the link to see Guruve’s Lovemore Bonjisi pieces.
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