Zwelethu MTHETHWA (b. 1960)
The Wall That Divides
2002
pastel on paper
107.5 x 162 cm
Absolute Zwelethu
2005
oil on canvas
39 x 55 cm
A Woman In A Shack Interior
year unknown
Lambda print
44 x 60 cm
Zwelethu Mthethwa’s photographs were created in a scale and composition that establish a confrontation between the subject and the spectator. Drawing from the history of portraiture, documentary photography and cinema, his works comment… Continue Reading
Zwelethu MTHETHWA (b. 1960) and Sam NHLENGETHWA (b. 1955)
Five boats
2009
black and white photograph and charcoal drawing
99 x 100 cm
In 2001, Sam Nhlengethwa and Zwelethu Mthethwa worked on a series of collaborative pieces, which were exhibited at Goodman Gallery. ‘While such a pairing had the potential to produce wayward results, Nhlengethwa’s familiarity with the… Continue Reading
Zwelethu MTHETHWA (b. 1960) and Sam NHLENGETHWA (b. 1955)
Is it Still Life or Lunch?
2000
Paint and collage on digital print
66 x 91 cm
Sam Nhlengethwa and Zwelethu Mthethwa worked collaboratively on a number works over the years: Mthethwa’s well-known photographic portraits were collaged, recomposed and altered by Nhlengethwa to create new interpretations and meanings.
Zwelethu MTHETHWA (b. 1960) and Sam NHLENGETHWA (b. 1955)
Crucifixion II
2000
Paint, collage and digital print
89.5 x 111 cm
Sam Nhlengethwa and Zwelethu Mthethwa worked collaboratively on a number works over the years: Mthethwa’s well-known photographic portraits were collaged, recomposed and altered by Nhlengethwa to create new interpretations and meanings.
BIOGRAPHY
On 5 May 2013, Zwelethu Mthethwa was arrested after being filmed on closed circuit camera hitting and kicking a woman to death on the street in Woodstock, Cape Town on 13 April. In 2017, he was convicted of murdering 23-year-old sex worker Nokuphila Kumalo. He is currently incarcerated at Pollsmoor Prison. He was sentenced to 18 years in jail by the Western Cape High Court in 2017.
Born in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal in 1960, Mthethwa is an internationally recognised painter and photographer whose portraits of men and women in their domestic or work environments contain a strong psychological and narrative charge.
He received a diploma and an advanced degree in fine arts from Michaelis School of Fine Art in Cape Town. A Fulbright scholarship enabled him to attend Rochester Institute of Technology for his Masters of Fine Arts in Imaging Art in 1989.
His work was included in The Experience of Art in the (2005) Venice Biennale and in the (2004) Gwangju Biennale.
Solo exhibitions include Zwelethu Mthethwa, The Baltimore Museum of Art (2013), and Zwelethu Mthethwa: Inner Views, Studio Museum in Harlem (2010). His work is included in many collections, including the Guggenheim Museum, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Castilla y Leon, the Centre Pompidou, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, The Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Museum, Iziko South African National Gallery, The Studio Museum in Harlem, and the Victoria & Albert Museum, among many others. He is represented in Cape Town by BRUNDYN + GONSALVES, in Johannesburg by Everard Read and in New York by the Jack Shainman Gallery.