Lovemore Bonjisi
Respected Shona art critic and curator Celia Winter Irving has described Lovemore as “the Shona Michelangelo “, writing in the Herald, Zimbabwe’s main daily newspaper.
Lovemore Bonjisi was born in January 1985 in Ruwa, Zimbabwe. Though he’s the youngest in the Bonjisi family of stone sculptors, he has proved to be the most dynamic artist by far, thanks to years of training by his brother Lameck (now deceased), one of Zimbabwe’s more successful stone sculptors. Lameck introduced Lovemore to the art of stone sculpture at the age of 12. He could not attend high school as he didn’t have a birth certificate so he had no choice but to assist brother Lameck by sanding and polishing Lameck’s pieces. ...More...
As he progressed, Lameck would give him small raw stones to work on and Lovemore’s creative nature was unleashed. By the age of 14 he was producing sculptures that appealed to many of the art dealers who visited Lameck. They encouraged Lovemore to work on bigger pieces and his art career began.
Even in the shadow of his more famous brother, Lovemore’s work attracted many who viewed it. Lovemore says “a sculpture already exists in the stone before you start on it. All I do as an artist is to remove the unwanted material to reveal the hidden sculpture hidden within – it’s like cutting a diamond.” His work is dynamic and fluid, coupled with sharp angles and smooth long necks with life like faces. He cites as the reference for his work the legendary sculptor Nicholas Mukomberanwa, who in turn taught Lameck Bonjisi, who then passed on this knowledge. These two generations of great stone sculptors have helped to shape his career.
Lovemore’s work has been exhibited in galleries around the world, including the Alexander gallery (Spain ); Contemporary Fine Art Gallery (Eton,UK); Passion in Stone Exhibition (Sydney,Australia) and The Hans Uber collection (Germany). He was voted most promising sculptor by the Alexander Gallery (Spain) in 2004. His most recent exhibition was an open exhibition at the National Gallery Zimbabwe in Harare. His works are in high demand and held in private collections worldwide....Less...
Lovemore Bonjisi was born in January 1985 in Ruwa, Zimbabwe. Though he’s the youngest in the Bonjisi family of stone sculptors, he has proved to be the most dynamic artist by far, thanks to years of training by his brother Lameck (now deceased), one of Zimbabwe’s more successful stone sculptors. Lameck introduced Lovemore to the art of stone sculpture at the age of 12. He could not attend high school as he didn’t have a birth certificate so he had no choice but to assist brother Lameck by sanding and polishing Lameck’s pieces. ...More...
As he progressed, Lameck would give him small raw stones to work on and Lovemore’s creative nature was unleashed. By the age of 14 he was producing sculptures that appealed to many of the art dealers who visited Lameck. They encouraged Lovemore to work on bigger pieces and his art career began.
Even in the shadow of his more famous brother, Lovemore’s work attracted many who viewed it. Lovemore says “a sculpture already exists in the stone before you start on it. All I do as an artist is to remove the unwanted material to reveal the hidden sculpture hidden within – it’s like cutting a diamond.” His work is dynamic and fluid, coupled with sharp angles and smooth long necks with life like faces. He cites as the reference for his work the legendary sculptor Nicholas Mukomberanwa, who in turn taught Lameck Bonjisi, who then passed on this knowledge. These two generations of great stone sculptors have helped to shape his career.
Lovemore’s work has been exhibited in galleries around the world, including the Alexander gallery (Spain ); Contemporary Fine Art Gallery (Eton,UK); Passion in Stone Exhibition (Sydney,Australia) and The Hans Uber collection (Germany). He was voted most promising sculptor by the Alexander Gallery (Spain) in 2004. His most recent exhibition was an open exhibition at the National Gallery Zimbabwe in Harare. His works are in high demand and held in private collections worldwide....Less...
