JULIO RIZHI
Biography
Born 1991 Harare, Zimbabwe
Lives and works in Harare, Zimbabwe
After several years of study at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe visual art studio, Julio decided to pursue his own experimental practice, while based at the Chinembiri studios with several of Zimbabwe's leading new generation artists such as Gresham Tapiwa Nyaude, Moffat Takadiwa and Wycliffe Mundopa. Rizhi’s works like him a deeply imbedded in the life of the city building connections between consumption and its outcomes, through the socio-ethical prism of contemporary Zimbabwe.
His dystopic and dysmorphic constructions speak to environmental decay and the social cost of high-density living such as youth unemployment and addiction. Darkly humoured, Rizhi uses the seductively bright colours of the discarded plastics he melts to construct his sculptures, as a metaphor for the broken promises of a better future advertised but never delivered.
Exhibitions
2020: Level | Mosi-oa-tunya, First Floor Gallery Vic Falls, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
2020: African Galleries Now, African Art Galleries- Artsy Online art fair, First Floor Gallery Harare
2020: Chakafukidza solo exhibition, First Floor Gallery Harare, Harare, Zimbabwe
2020: ARCOLisboa Online, First Floor Gallery Harare, artsy.net
2020: Cape Town Art Fair, First Floor Gallery Harare, Cape Town, South Africa
2019: Welcome Home, Group Show, MACAAL Gallery, Marrakesh, Morocco
2018: Next Level, First Floor Gallery Harare, Harare, Zimbabwe
2018: Cape Town Art Fair, First Floor Gallery Harare, Cape Town, South Africa
2017: Art Africa Art Fair, First Floor Gallery Harare, Cape Town, South Africa
2017: AKAA Paris, First Floor Gallery Harare, Paris, France
2017: Another Antipodes/urban axis touring exhibition of Southern African contemporary art, PS Art Space, Freemantle, Australia
2017: Mushonga/Medicine, solo exhibition, First Floor Gallery Harare, Zimbabwe
2016: THAT Art Fair, Firtst Floor Gallery Harare, Cape Town, South Africa
2016: 'I am because you are', First Floor Gallery Harare, Harare, Zimbabwe
2016: FNB Joburg Art Fair, First Floor Gallery Harare, Johannesburg, South Africa
2016: Mushonga/Medicine Solo Exhibition, First Floor Gallery, Harare, Zimbabwe
2015: FNB Joburg Art Fair – Johannesburg, South Africa
2015: Harare Block Party at First Floor Gallery Harare, Harare, Zimbabwe
2015: Kuyaruka; Coming of Age at First Floor Gallery Harare, Harare, Zimbabwe
2014: Annual Exhibition at National Gallery of Zimbabwe, Harare, Zimbabwe
2014: Final Year Show at National Gallery of Zimbabwe, Harare, Zimbabwe
Biography
Born 1991 Harare, Zimbabwe
Lives and works in Harare, Zimbabwe
After several years of study at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe visual art studio, Julio decided to pursue his own experimental practice, while based at the Chinembiri studios with several of Zimbabwe's leading new generation artists such as Gresham Tapiwa Nyaude, Moffat Takadiwa and Wycliffe Mundopa. Rizhi’s works like him a deeply imbedded in the life of the city building connections between consumption and its outcomes, through the socio-ethical prism of contemporary Zimbabwe.
His dystopic and dysmorphic constructions speak to environmental decay and the social cost of high-density living such as youth unemployment and addiction. Darkly humoured, Rizhi uses the seductively bright colours of the discarded plastics he melts to construct his sculptures, as a metaphor for the broken promises of a better future advertised but never delivered.
Exhibitions
2020: Level | Mosi-oa-tunya, First Floor Gallery Vic Falls, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
2020: African Galleries Now, African Art Galleries- Artsy Online art fair, First Floor Gallery Harare
2020: Chakafukidza solo exhibition, First Floor Gallery Harare, Harare, Zimbabwe
2020: ARCOLisboa Online, First Floor Gallery Harare, artsy.net
2020: Cape Town Art Fair, First Floor Gallery Harare, Cape Town, South Africa
2019: Welcome Home, Group Show, MACAAL Gallery, Marrakesh, Morocco
2018: Next Level, First Floor Gallery Harare, Harare, Zimbabwe
2018: Cape Town Art Fair, First Floor Gallery Harare, Cape Town, South Africa
2017: Art Africa Art Fair, First Floor Gallery Harare, Cape Town, South Africa
2017: AKAA Paris, First Floor Gallery Harare, Paris, France
2017: Another Antipodes/urban axis touring exhibition of Southern African contemporary art, PS Art Space, Freemantle, Australia
2017: Mushonga/Medicine, solo exhibition, First Floor Gallery Harare, Zimbabwe
2016: THAT Art Fair, Firtst Floor Gallery Harare, Cape Town, South Africa
2016: 'I am because you are', First Floor Gallery Harare, Harare, Zimbabwe
2016: FNB Joburg Art Fair, First Floor Gallery Harare, Johannesburg, South Africa
2016: Mushonga/Medicine Solo Exhibition, First Floor Gallery, Harare, Zimbabwe
2015: FNB Joburg Art Fair – Johannesburg, South Africa
2015: Harare Block Party at First Floor Gallery Harare, Harare, Zimbabwe
2015: Kuyaruka; Coming of Age at First Floor Gallery Harare, Harare, Zimbabwe
2014: Annual Exhibition at National Gallery of Zimbabwe, Harare, Zimbabwe
2014: Final Year Show at National Gallery of Zimbabwe, Harare, Zimbabwe
