Revisions

Zwelethu Mthethwa is internationally celebrated for both his colour photographs and his drawings in coloured pastel. Both of these seemingly disparate mediums of expression embody his vivid sense of colour and a pride in his innately African subject matter. They have formed the basis of his appeal and wide acclaim, especially with collectors abroad. Mthethwa’s initial photographic work commenced as a student in the 1980s at the Michaelis School of Fine Art at the University of Cape Town. He had enrolled at the School with special ministerial permission as UCT was then designated by the apartheid State as a “white” tertiary institution. During his period of study, various States of Emergency were declared by the besieged apartheid government, and the “townships’ of Cape Town became no-go zones for white photographers. However, Mthethwa, as a black student photographer, was able to move freely in these areas and make a searing record of the conditions there. It was this photographic work - largely in black and white - that earned him high praise and, ultimately a Fulbright Scholarship to further his studies in the United States. Here he studied for a Master of Fine Arts in Imaging Art at the Rochester Institute of Technology, graduating in 1989. Read More…