Joys of Self-Delusion
Artist：Gresham Tapiwa Nyaude
Duration：2022.2.26－2022.4.30
Vernissage：2022.2.26，5pm－7pm
Venue：Vanguard Gallery, Rm 204, Bldg. 4A, 50 Moganshan Rd, Shanghai
Tel：＋86 21 62993523
Vanguard Gallery is pleased to present “Joys of Self-delusion” by Gresham Tapiwa Nyaude, the artist’s second solo exhibition with the gallery. A new series of paintings, which furthers Tapiwa’s representative practice of surreal imagery and camouflage graphic, will be on view at Vanguard Gallery from February 26 through April 30, 2022.
In this exhibition Tapiwa reflects with urgency on the impact that the pandemic has exerted on every facet of his surroundings and the domino emotions it may have triggered. As he captured with great sympathy in his thoughts and painting, under the current circumstances of uncertainty, some turned to addiction, violence, or hooliganism as an approach to pursue joys of evanescent delusions. “Nothing captures human interest more than human tragedy”, Tapiwa said. Living on the verge between survival and demise has been somewhat of a call to poetry, at times proving brutal and at others sentimental or cynically satirical. The figures in Tapiwa’s painting defy characterization, underscored by the humanity of their quest to attain a quality of life that appears even beyond the reach of dreams.
The chair, with its connotation as irreversible patriarchy and political establishment in Zimbabwe, remains the dominant element of Tapiwa’s creation. Meanwhile, in this new series, the skeletons become more present, which manage to attach a destined sense of decay and collapse to the canvas. “Joys of Self-Delusion” is a response to the world at this critical moment on the artist’s own term as a Zimbabwean tackling the trauma of himself and his country, with full courageousness and empathy. In a scenario between figuration, abstraction and hallucination created by the artist, the viewers are invited to stimulate their own solution for the reality.
Grey Spaces (Playtime) | Oil and spray paint on canvas | 199 x 169.5 cm | 2021
Joys of Self-Delusion | Oil and spray paint on canvas | 200 x 200 cm | 2021
Installation View
