Duncan Wylie: Mhondoro Yemvura Water Diviner
In choosing this exhibition title, the French Zimbabwean artist Duncan Wylie has reappropriated the sounds of a language he has heard since birth, Shona, which he has set aside since moving to Europe in 1995. His African roots, deeply anchored in his memory, constantly inform his brushstrokes and his personal iconography.
Mhondoro ye Mvura (water spirit) embody the idea of a protective entity linked to water, a symbol of life and purification in Shona culture. Water is, of course, an eminently precious element which is sometimes scarce in Zimbabwe. Wylie celebrates it through a number of images, including those of the dowser, the well, the swimming pool, and also trees and their sources of life.
The painter has a strong bond with this indispensable component. Many artists have risen to the challenge of its representation 鈥� so evanescent, furtive and difficult to transcribe. Wylie has been inspired by essential images from the history of art, including John Singer Sargent鈥檚 Mediterranean watercolours and their characteristic light, Pablo Picasso鈥檚 athletic bathers and David Hockney鈥檚 swimming pool.
Beyond the difficulty involved in depicting this element, Wylie adds a political character to this series of previously unseen works, including an evocation of the relationship between Africa and the West. His wells, dowsers and water vendors are all metaphors for rich countries鈥� appropriation of African resources. It鈥檚 worth noting that the majority of the Zimbabwean population lives by selling goods on the streets. And even though this market is linked to the vital element of water, the police regularly intervene to shut it down, thereby polarising this essential issue in Zimbabwe. The opulence of villas with swimming pools in wealthy neighbourhoods has been made possible by the exploitation of local resources, including water. The current situation in Zimbabwe therefore continues to inform Wylie鈥檚 work in an allegorical way.
The water spirit is a special figure in the collective imagination, both old-fashioned and powerful. Water arrives thanks to him, but in his essential quest for life, he also appears to be searching for his roots, his history. Perhaps this is a metaphor for Wylie himself, since the artist seems to be continually questioning his multiple identity as both an African and a European man, echoing the nominal duality of black Zimbabweans who bear two names, one Western and one African. Here, he highlights the topicality of these beliefs through this new series of works, in which the sacralisation of water becomes the central symbol of a mystification whose personal nature ensures that it is forever relevant.
As an undisputed master on the French and Zimbabwean contemporary art scenes, Duncan Wylie reinvents great secular painting through works that are both strongly political and imbued with a powerful aestheticism. His brilliant palette and distinctive brushwork sublimate his kaleidoscopic works, delving into the strata of the memory of the world, art history and his own history in Zimbabwe.
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In choosing this exhibition title, the French Zimbabwean artist Duncan Wylie has reappropriated the sounds of a language he has heard since birth, Shona, which he has set aside since moving to Europe in 1995. His African roots, deeply anchored in his memory, constantly inform his brushstrokes and his personal iconography.
Mhondoro ye Mvura (water spirit) embody the idea of a protective entity linked to water, a symbol of life and purification in Shona culture. Water is, of course, an eminently precious element which is sometimes scarce in Zimbabwe. Wylie celebrates it through a number of images, including those of the dowser, the well, the swimming pool, and also trees and their sources of life.
The painter has a strong bond with this indispensable component. Many artists have risen to the challenge of its representation 鈥� so evanescent, furtive and difficult to transcribe. Wylie has been inspired by essential images from the history of art, including John Singer Sargent鈥檚 Mediterranean watercolours and their characteristic light, Pablo Picasso鈥檚 athletic bathers and David Hockney鈥檚 swimming pool.
Beyond the difficulty involved in depicting this element, Wylie adds a political character to this series of previously unseen works, including an evocation of the relationship between Africa and the West. His wells, dowsers and water vendors are all metaphors for rich countries鈥� appropriation of African resources. It鈥檚 worth noting that the majority of the Zimbabwean population lives by selling goods on the streets. And even though this market is linked to the vital element of water, the police regularly intervene to shut it down, thereby polarising this essential issue in Zimbabwe. The opulence of villas with swimming pools in wealthy neighbourhoods has been made possible by the exploitation of local resources, including water. The current situation in Zimbabwe therefore continues to inform Wylie鈥檚 work in an allegorical way.
The water spirit is a special figure in the collective imagination, both old-fashioned and powerful. Water arrives thanks to him, but in his essential quest for life, he also appears to be searching for his roots, his history. Perhaps this is a metaphor for Wylie himself, since the artist seems to be continually questioning his multiple identity as both an African and a European man, echoing the nominal duality of black Zimbabweans who bear two names, one Western and one African. Here, he highlights the topicality of these beliefs through this new series of works, in which the sacralisation of water becomes the central symbol of a mystification whose personal nature ensures that it is forever relevant.
As an undisputed master on the French and Zimbabwean contemporary art scenes, Duncan Wylie reinvents great secular painting through works that are both strongly political and imbued with a powerful aestheticism. His brilliant palette and distinctive brushwork sublimate his kaleidoscopic works, delving into the strata of the memory of the world, art history and his own history in Zimbabwe.
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