Family jewels

The striking exhibition that opened at Kubatana Gallery this month is a collection of family jewels. Baba Nemwana (in the Shona language, “father and son”) features the serpentine stone sculptures of Nicholas Mukomberanwa and his son, Anderson, two well-known artists from Zimbabwe. Nicholas, one of the country’s first-generation stone sculptors, has been a mentor to many young artists, including his talented son.
The work of Mukomberanwa reveals his deep spiritual and cultural attachments, expressing a distinctive spirit/body duality. On one side of “Communication,” two heads flow into each other in a carving that resembles three balanced rocks, a form that evokes the topography of his home country. On the reverse, two faces are outlined against a flat surface honed to an almost metallic finish. Other sculptures by him depict ancestral spirits, a spiritual advisor and lovers.
Though Mukomberanwa is pleased to be exhibiting with his son (they show together often in Zimbabwe), he has always cautioned Anderson about the difficulties of being an artist. “From the beginning,” he says, “I wanted him to do something different from what I do.” But he found his son’s thirst for art making unquenchable. Anderson began sculpting in his father’s studio at the age of 6. Though he did study civil engineering, Anderson returned to sculpting as soon as he had earned a certificate with honors.
As a young boy, Anderson says, he emulated his father, making copies of his work. Then he started moving away from Nicholas’s style. “People used to come and see my work, and they would see my father. It was a struggle to develop my own identity,” he says.
Anderson’s forms — jazz musicians and sensual female figures — reflect his observations of this world. He connects his work to a love for contemporary Zimbabwean and Senegalese music, jazz and classical compositions. In each of his music-inspired forms, the performer’s body curves around his instrument in a soulful embrace. The dark, smooth-surfaced horn player depicted in “Hwamanda” holds a textured, unpolished saxophone.
“There’s always been a craving in me to play an instrument. In my imagination, I’m a musician. The way I use my chisel when I’m carving, I feel like it’s an extension of my arm,” says Anderson. “When I watch a musician, even if his eyes are closed, he holds his instrument as if it’s part of his body. When I’m working, I feel the same way.”
Baba Nemwana continues through Oct. 21 at Kubatana Gallery, 1841 Peachtree Road. Tues.-Sat. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. 404-355-5764