Portia Zvavahera’s "Zvibereko Zvemweya Wangu" Opens in Los Angeles

by artweb

Installation shot of exhibition of Portia Zvavahera's latest exhibition (image from David Zwirner website)

Yesterday, Los Angeles witnessed the opening of Portia Zvavahera’s latest exhibition, Zvibereko zvemweya wangu, at David Zwirner’s Western Avenue space. For those who have followed Zvavahera’s meteoric rise over the past decade, this exhibition confirms what many already know: she is one of the most singular, emotionally attuned, and spiritually resonant painters working today, not just in Africa, but globally.

This new body of work is a culmination of the artist’s continued exploration of dreams, rituals, motherhood, memory, and the unseen forces that shape human existence. Painted with her trademark intensity - layers of wax-resist batik, block-printed patterns, oil stick markings, and sweeping acrylic passages - these canvases shimmer with psychological depth. Zvavahera has mastered the difficult task of giving form to emotions that resist language. Her paintings feel like revelations, pulling viewers into a world where the spiritual and the earthly are inseparably intertwined.

It is impossible to view this exhibition without acknowledging the remarkable trajectory Zvavahera has carved over the past few years. Since representing Zimbabwe at the 55th Venice Biennale in 2013, her presence on the international stage has expanded with breathtaking momentum. In just the last three years alone, she has delivered an astounding lineup of major institutional exhibitions Kettle’s Yard, University of Cambridge, and Fruitmarket Edinburgh (2024–25), Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris (2024), ICA Boston, her debut institutional solo in the United States (2025), Fridericianum, Kassel, marking her first major solo exhibition in Germany (2025). Very few artists - Zimbabwean or otherwise - have achieved this level of sustained curatorial interest across Europe and the United States. Zvavahera stands today among the most influential voices in contemporary African painting, shaping global conversations about figuration, spirituality, and the cultural politics of emotion.

Zvibereko zvemweya wangu, loosely translated as “the fruits of my soul”, is perhaps her most personal exhibition yet. Many of the works are created in memory of her late grandmother, whose influence reverberates across the canvases. Zvavahera returns to familiar themes of love, loss, protection, fear, motherhood, and ancestral lineage, but with a renewed urgency. New motifs - vessels, trees, snakes, water lilies - appear like spiritual markers guiding both painter and viewer through layered emotional terrain. Figures bow in prayerful communion; children float untethered, supported by arms made of leaves or feathers; hybrid creatures stand as intermediaries between worlds. Zvavahera strips away the illusions of modernity and brings us back to the raw, universal truths of existence.

For Zimbabwe, Zvavahera’s achievements are a true national treasure. Her work stands confidently among global contemporaries, yet remains deeply rooted in the Zimbabwean spiritual, visual, and emotional imagination. She is part of a powerful lineage of artists - from Thomas Mukarobgwa to the present - who use intuition and vision as a guiding force.

Her success in major institutions across Europe and America is not only personal, it is a reflection of the strength, resilience, and global relevance of Zimbabwean contemporary art.

With Zvibereko zvemweya wangu, Zvavahera continues to push the boundaries of what painting can hold - emotionally, symbolically, spiritually. The exhibition, running until February 7, 2026, and stands as one of the most important presentations of contemporary Zimbabwean art abroad this year. For those who can make the journey to Los Angeles, this show is essential viewing. For those at home in Zimbabwe and across the continent, it is a moment to celebrate one of our own - an artist whose voice, vision, and spirit continue to illuminate the world.

Portia Zvavahera is, without question, a gem for Zimbabwe.

*image from David Zwirner website, all copyright observed and the photographer acknowledged.

Enquiries: davidzwirner.com