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Zimbabwes new metal art master
Martin Chemhere, Africancolours.net
March 23, 2006

http://zimbabwe.africancolours.net/content/9212

Metal master by John Gusinyu

Award winning Zimbabwean metal art master John Gusinyu recently won the coveted ZD100 million price money, about USD1000, in the "Don Quixote, An African Perspective" exhibition.

Gusinyu, as he is affectionately known in the local arts community, has long been rated among the best, if not foremost visual artists currently working in the country today. His metal art works, characterized by distinct shaping detail and usually accompanied with sketches to communicate messages easily, express his feelings, opinions and visions, normally relating to communities around him.

In the first ever show sponsored by the Spanish Embassy and the first of its kind in Africa; Gusinyu paraded his piece "Make Love Not War". A poignant reminder of the bloody savagery of Africa's incessant tribal conflicts and genocides, this piece stood out among sixty-six equally beautiful works. For Gusinyu, now in his late 30s, this exhibition presented him with the opportunity to harmer home the message that he has trudged the long and winding artistic route to success since the early 90s and so is no longer an ordinary artist.

"The Don Quixote award is not my first one, I have been an award winner before. Its only that people, especially writers have not given me the limelight", quipped the lanky artist. A father of one, and single, Gusinyu started his art at home, often making things he saw around him, deep in the maze of the Harare's oldest and most notorious high density suburb of Mbare. "I started art at home around 1994 and without knowing I ended up training at the then BAT Art Workshop, now the National Gallery Visual Art School," he recalls.

Between 1995 and 1996, he learnt the ropes of art making engaging in broader forms such as drawing, painting, printmaking, photography, and sculpture, learning art history. But his passion lay in the discipline of weld art. "I found metal sculpture highly challenging. Few students liked the medium then because it is not an easy field. I wanted to be like Arthur Azevedo, the master of the form in Zimbabwe", he said.

Described by an art instructor as a "talented and energetic artist" John Gusinyu was awarded an extra year at the art school because he had "displayed extraordinary creative ideas in metal". The same instructor recommended him thus: "He is a dedicated and energetic artist. I do not hesitate he will be a great artist to our Zimbabwean community." Almost 10 years after that prophetic comment, he is basking in the glory of creative success. Always keen on telling the complete story, Gusinyu says that he always sketches his work before creating it in metal. "That gives me the opportunity to assist the viewers know and understand the work. It also shows my other side of talent".

John Gusinyu's class graduated some of the best artists in Zimbabwe today. Among these are Toni Ngwenya, Doris Kamupira, Peter Kwangware, Percy Manyonga and Prince Matsika. His work has been collected internationally in Europe and Africa with exhibitions mainly in Harare at venues such as Alliance Francaise, National Gallery of Zimbabwe, National Gallery of Bulawayo, Delta Gallery and the now defunct Sandro's Gallery.

The Quixote award comes a long way after he won an award of Overall Distinction in the once prestigious Mobil Zimbabwe Annual Heritage Exhibition with a piece titled "Before Death", and which was purchased by the University Of Zimbabwe Department Of Medicine. He has also been commissioned by several organizations such as the Zimbabwe International Film Festival. John revealed that he is inspired by societal developments that he interprets into abstracts or realism. He also said that he is also gifted in drawing but has since abandoned the discipline due to its costly material resources.

The artist pointed out that the major set back in the development of local art was the lack of marketing venues. "Buyers no longer come to Zimbabwe and to make it worse very few emerging blacks are appreciative of what we create."I think there should be education of the new business owners so that they understand our local art. People buy art when they understand it". He lamented the decreasing numbers of art galleries. "The few that existed have scaled down or have moved shop to neighbouring countries. Some of them no longer take work by upcoming artists, they have their own artists that they favour because they sale quickly".

His long-term ambition is to have his own space to work with young artists while selling the work to an international audience. He believes that art lovers should be able to see new works by upcoming artists rather than concentrate on the traditional names because it is only through the identification of new ideas that the industry will meaningfully develop.

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