Joe Mutasa
Joe Mutasa is one of the most prominent names of the second generation of Zimbabwean sculptors. As a sculptor with over 20 years’ experience, he has travelled widely as a resident artist at a number of high-profile international exhibitions. Born in 1964 in Rusape, a small town in the North East of Zimbabwe, Mutasa initially carved representational heads and figures for the tourist trade. Upon traveling to Chapungu Sculpture Park, he met many committed sculptors who urged him to create art rather than mass-produced repeated themes. Within a few years, his work drew attention and in 1997 three large works were included in the Kirstenbosch show in Cape Town to much acclaim. He prefers harder stones- Springstone, Granite, Lepidolite and Dolomite and is inspired by family, daily life and the environment. Mutasa’s work has been shown in exhibitions at the Kirstenboch Botanical Gardens, South Africa Kew Gardens, and in London.