KUMBA
INTRODUCTION :
“Sometimes we feel we straddle two cultures; at other times, that we fall between two stools.”
Salman Rushdie, 'Imaginary Homelands: Essays and Criticism 1981-1991'
Anima Mundi are delighted to present ‘Kumba’ by Gabriel Tendai Choto. ‘Kumba’ (the Shona word for ‘home’) is a collection of works, made leading up to the birth of his first daughter, exploring personal diaspora and identity.
Combining the twin disciplines of printmaking and painting, primarily in oil on paper, through his singular technique, Choto seeks new pathways into the painted image by taking cues from the surface quality produced by the printmaking process. His evolving, experimental practice involves layering painted areas of naturalism over the delicate compositional architecture of etching, resulting in paintings where physical presence and absence imply a metaphoric liminal state...
Salman Rushdie, 'Imaginary Homelands: Essays and Criticism 1981-1991'
Anima Mundi are delighted to present ‘Kumba’ by Gabriel Tendai Choto. ‘Kumba’ (the Shona word for ‘home’) is a collection of works, made leading up to the birth of his first daughter, exploring personal diaspora and identity.
Combining the twin disciplines of printmaking and painting, primarily in oil on paper, through his singular technique, Choto seeks new pathways into the painted image by taking cues from the surface quality produced by the printmaking process. His evolving, experimental practice involves layering painted areas of naturalism over the delicate compositional architecture of etching, resulting in paintings where physical presence and absence imply a metaphoric liminal state...
Read more/less
Extraordinarily sensitive and intimate, these images depict varied moments of contemplation and self examination. To aid navigation they could perhaps be divided in to three simplified sections. The first, a series of works derived from old family photographs, piece together ephemeral snippets of nostalgia where family and friendship provide a firm rootedness. The second, a series of self portraits, where through constructed situations the artist explores, examines and enforces his own broadening identity. The third group of works which depict images of people currently living in Africa, in circumstances very different to those that Choto now finds himself in. When combined, each chapter illustrates a profoundly moving, cultural straddling where one is aware of the duel states of connection and separation peculiar to the diasporic condition.
Choto was born in 1995 in Harare, Zimbabwe and moved to England when he was 5 years old. He was raised in Bradford, Yorkshire and currently lives and works in London, England. After completing his Diploma in Art and Design at Leeds Arts University (formerly Leeds College of Art) in 2012, Choto gained a BAFA in Drawing from Camberwell College of Art (UAL), London, in 2014 and more recently has completed an MFA at Central St Martins, London, UK. Selected group exhibitions include FBA Futures, Mall Galleries, London, UK (2018); Flock, GX Gallery, London, UK (2017); Blxckout Revolution: The Exhibition, 198 Gallery, London, UK (2017); BAME, Hotel Elephant Gallery, London, UK (2016); and Long Live the New Flesh, Tower Gallery, London, UK (2015). In 2018, Choto was selected for the Clyde & Co Art Award. ‘Kumba’ is Choto’s first solo exhibition at Anima Mundi.
“A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots.”
Marcus Garvey
ONLINE EXHIBITION VIDEO TOUR (CLICK TO VIEW) :
EXHIBITION ARTWORKS (CLICK FOR FULL DETAILS) :
ONLINE CATALOGUE (CLICK TO VIEW) :