Strauss & co - 4 February 2013, Johannesburg

228 566 Kudzanai CHIURAI ZIMBABWEAN 1981- The True Believer signed and dated 2005; inscribed with the title and ‘Y Propaganda’ on the reverse mixed media on board 204 by 120,5cm R50 000 – 70 000 Kudzanai Chiurai is the winner of the 2012 FNB Art Prize. This talented young artist works in a wide range of media that includes drawing, painting, sculpture, multimedia installations, photography and street art. His diverse and socially engaged practice caught the eye of international curator Carolyn Christov- Bakargiev and ensured that he was one of only three South Africans included in the prestigious Documenta 13 exhibition. Though young, his work shows a maturity and ability to grapple with political complexities. His ideological commentary is described as “dry without lacking in humour and avoids notions of victimhood so often coupled with socially weighted art”. 1 When asked by GQ magazine what he would consider the most dangerous thing he has ever done with a paintbrush, he answered, ‘I started painting’. The response is a fairly accurate summation of the nature of Chiurai’s practice: dangerous. 2 1. Catherine Green, ‘Kudzanai Chiurai’, Art South Africa , volume 06, issue 02, summer 2007, pages 78-79. 2. Seeh ttp://www.artthrob.co.za/Artbio/ Kudzanai_Chiurai_by_Anna_Stielau.aspx