Meditating on the dynamic aspects of his Zimbabwean identity and the complexities of African life, Gresham Tapiwa Nyaude’s playful use of iconography and symbols of political resistance are at the heart of his creativity. The artist just won the 2024 FNB Art Joburg Prize for his painting ‘MCMLXXX’, part of his current solo show ‘Immanentize the Eschaton’ at First Floor Gallery in Harare. The works are fun, frantic and demand attention as they question the final destination of the soul. Through disfiguration, distortion and repetition, Nyaude simultaneously probes the human condition while rebelliously confronting socio-political issues in Zimbabwe and the broader African context.

Born and raised in Mbare, one of the oldest townships in Harare, Nyuade is inspired by this personal connection and his present reality. Exploring tensions of chaos and order, his neo-expressionist works are hopeful at their core. As the 14th winner of the prize, Nyaude will receive a cash award and a solo exhibition at the Johannesburg Art Gallery (JAG) in 2025. NATAAL caught up with Nyaude from his Harare studio ahead of this year’s fair.

What does being an artist mean to you?

Art has enabled me to be a citizen of this world in so many ways. I engage with people through art, especially when I travel. It's one language, and the language is art, which is so liberating. I’m the lucky one, I get to be part of this marvellous industry, and evoke spirits and emotions. Right now, it’s a beautiful moment to be an African artist. We've been carving these spaces in the global scene and people really understand that Africa has something to say. The world is listening to us.

What themes and motivations most drive your work?

I address social justice, freedom of expression and matriarchal and patriarchal systems in African traditions. I aim to connect with the people I represent so I'm particularly interested in Bantu language and street slang. I want to start conversations with my people about issues that affect us in Africa. I don’t want to create work that’s reporting to the West about how we live but to allow my people to resolve these issues.

Your work includes repeated objects and body parts, how are they significant to you?

Recurring motifs like teeth, chairs and human figures with missing limbs, draw inspiration from African proverbs and idioms. As we address power, there’s a chair that can symbolise leadership and authority. The teeth reflect the Shona proverb “zino irema rinosekerera warisingade” (A tooth [smile] is a deceiver, it smiles even at the one it doesn’t like). I see that a lot in Africa, we’re always smiling but carrying a heavy burden. I don’t need specific answers to these themes; they keep recurring as I learn about myself, my community and my people, and these topics that I keep digging into.

As the 2024 FNB Art Joburg Prize winner, how does it feel to be recognised in South Africa, particularly where Afrophobia and xenophobia have deeply affected Zimbabwean communities?

The FNB Art Fair is one of the most prestigious fairs on the continent so I’m excited. As artists we must highlight these issues in our work and I think we really need to break down the barriers and borders within. We come from this vast continent and we are one people.

Can you tell us more about the title of your exhibition ‘Immanentize the Eschaton’?

I've been doing shows around the world as a painter and I wanted to just celebrate it. The title translates to living heaven on Earth. I've shown in all these spaces, but being a sample of people who grew up from Mbare, I was like, okay, I think I'm living the dream, what was meant to happen in heaven is already happening. I talk about all these issues but being playful as well because what I want to do with that topic is bring flowers to the door. You’re in a gallery full of catchy colours, beautiful figures and drawings. But if you spend time with the paintings, we get to address these serious things. In addition to that, I’m saying, you know what, we know we are painters and we don't need a thumbs up from the West. That's the heaven on Earth for me.

What can we expect from your 2025 solo show at the Johannesburg Art Gallery?

I want to be surprised, just like you, be organic and see what comes. This is one of my big shows, we get to do it on our soil and I want to put everything I’ve got into it. It's next August, so I've got all this time to prepare and come up with a stellar show for us.

What aspects of creating art bring you the most joy?

Spending the day in the studio, failing, getting up again, trying. There’s a sort of a struggle that you face every day and you have to push every day, and once you’ve achieved something, you feel like a winner. That brings me joy.

What impact do you hope your work will have on audiences?

I want to connect with my audience, especially young African people, and inspire them to see their possibilities. My work should spark conversations, we should be able to speak to power and to be able to have that voice and freedom of expression.