upcoming exhibition

In his theatrical multimedia compositions, Zimbabwean-born artist Kudzanai Chiurai investigates some of the most pertinent-and stereotyped-issues facing the African continent today, from government corruption to xenophobia and displacement. In his 11-minute video Iyeza (2012), Chiurai reinterprets Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper, replacing the painting’s subjects with contemporary African identities: the apostles include a medicine man, an AK-47-wielding rebel fighter, and two cowering and awed women clad in Dutch-wax dresses; Christ becomes an androgynous figure in a sharply tailored dark suit. Against an overtly romanticized backdrop with strong religious and social undertones, the actors move in painfully slow motion to a rhythmic soundtrack that punctuates their caustic actions.