Wallen Mapondera
Born in 1985 in Harare, Zimbabwe.
Lives and works in Grahamstown, South Africa.
Mapondera is a multi-disciplinary artist who creates work through painting, drawing, sculpture and installation. He is best known for his complex wall sculptures which create richly tessellated abstract surfaces out of cardboard and textiles. These works challenge the linearity of time and history, transfiguring ordinary materials into textured visual puzzles. The artist also paints surreal, unnerving dreamscapes, combining animals with domestic objects, using the deep-rooted cultural psychology of the human-animal relationship to evoke social and political themes of power, domination, hierarchies and corruption.
In 2022, Wallen Mapondera represented Zimbabwe at the 59th Venice Biennale. Entitled "I Did Not Leave a Sign?", the Zimbabwean Pavilion exhibition was curated by Fadzai Veronica Muchemwa and featured works by Kresiah Mukwazhi, Terrence Musekiwa, Ronald Muchatuta and Wallen Mapondera.
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Wallen Mapondera
Manzwi Akazvitakura / Pregnant Words (Space for breeding and expanding commonalities of things to become) 10 Nov - 23 Dec 2023 GalerieThe exhibition Manzwi Akazvitakura/Pregnant Words focuses generally on the returns of ideas that emerged from conversations with others within a group or alone. Reflecting on how we were raised as...Read more -
Wallen Mapondera
Chikokoko (Little Pleasures that Counts) 14 Apr - 29 May 2022 Galerie
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Wallen Mapondera
Mara Hoberman, ARTFORUM, December 11, 2023 -
5 expos sublimes en galeries à Paris à vite voir avant Noël
Malika Bauwens, Beaux Arts Magazine, December 11, 2023 -
Dentelle de carton
Julie Chaizemartin, Le Quotidien de l'Art, December 6, 2023 -
Wallen Mapondera "Manzwi Akazvitakura / Pregnant Words (Space for breeding and expanding commonalities of things to become)"
Eric Simon, ACTUART, November 30, 2023 -
Review - Wallen Mapondera
CHINNIE DING, ARTFORUM, May 10, 2022 -
The Artsy Vanguard 2021 - Wallen Mapondera
AYANNA DOZIER, Artsy, December 1, 2021