Bernard Matemera

BORN:
1946 – Died 2002

LIVED:
Guruve, Southern Rhodesia

PARENTS:
Bernards father was a village headman, and they spoke Zezuru – a Shona dialect.

EARLY LIFE:
Bernard had 4 years of formal schooling, and enjoyed herding cattle, making clay pots and carving wood. As a young man he worked as a tractor driver for a tobacco farmer, where he met Tom Blomefield, who had a farm which had a lot of serpentine stone which he started to carve. Tom welcomed new artists onto his land, including Bernard. There was not so much money to be made in tobacco and so began the first generation of Zimbabwean sculptors in 1965.

MEDIUMS USED IN WORK:
Grey or black serpentine stone

SUBJECTS OF WORK:
Animals, people or fantasy spirit creatures. Naked figures featured heavily, demonstrating highly suggestive body language.

EXHIBITIONS:
Rhodes National Gallery, Museum of Modern Art NY, The Chapungu Scultpure Park,


Bernard Matemera sculpture and furniture for sale from The Sculpture Park is detailed below: