Nyashadzashe Tanyaradzwa Marovatsanga (b.1997, Zimbabwe) is a young painter who lives and works in Harare, Zimbabwe. He has been an artist in residency at Village Unhu, Harare, since 2017. Founded by Georgina Maxim, Gareth Nyandoro, and Misheck Masamvu, Village Unhu is an art space that nurtures artistic local talent.
Under the mentorship of Misheck Masamvu, Marovatsanga has developed a powerful painterly language, using gestural brushstrokes and bold colouration.
He speaks of his work: “Sometimes, I go blank, then the portraits revive my everyday struggle. Sometimes I dream, then I reveal the dreams in my portraits. Sometimes I laugh, and the teeth show all the cracks. Sometimes, the sun shines too hot.
There's no one to tell who would care, the quietness makes it hard to forget. It always comes flooding back in when there's no noise to drown it out, I always put myself in the middle of chaos hoping the noise and nonsense will drown it out but it never does. I'm slowly growing fond to the chaos, learning to live in the middle of the chaos might be the only way to survive, the past will always be calling but chaos will always be louder, I have no choice but to chase chaos, it must never get quiet, I know chaos will consume me but it's slow, it's a slow dance with no rhythm and reason that's always changing but the objective is always to swirl in chaos until the sudden end.”
Marovatsanga’s works were shown for the first time in South Africa as part of Different Angles, an exhibition that was held at THK Gallery Cape Town from February to March 2020. He has exhibited with THK Gallery at 1-54 London, as well as various local art fairs. He is represented in collections in South Africa, Austria, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Zimbabwe, including in the Chris Moser collection (Vienna/Austria).