2024 FNB Art Prize Winner Announcement
2024 FNB Art Prize Winner Announcement. As Africa’s leading and longest running contemporary art fair, FNB Art Joburg’s mandate is to sustainably support and grow the continent’s cultural offering in ways that go beyond the fair. One of the ways this is achieved is through the annual FNB Art Prize. For its 14th year, FNB Art Joburg is proud to announce the winner of the 2024 FNB Art Prize: Gresham Tapiwa Nyaude.
The 2024 FNB Art Prize jury is made up of Kim Kandan (fair manager, FNB Art Joburg representative), Lezanne Viviers (collector, creative director, founder of VIVIERS) and Mfundi Vundla (collector, veteran film, and television producer). On their decision, the jury for the 2024 FNB Art Prize said, “There is a compelling balance between hope and political resistance in Gresham’s work. His adept use of satire allows him to navigate and illuminate complex, often contentious, topics with a nuanced approach that invites viewers to engage critically. Additionally, his commitment to the medium is evident in his technique and his sophisticated use of color. This control over brushwork not only showcases his technical skills but also enhances the expressive power of his work.”
By winning the FNB Art Prize, Gresham Tapiwa Nyaude joins previous winners Lindokuhle Sobekwa, Dada Khanyisa, Wycliffe Mundopa, Lady Skollie, Bronwyn Katz, Haroon Gunn-Salie, Peju Alatise, Nolan Oswald Dennis, Turiya Magadlela, Portia Zvavahera,Nelisiwe Xaba, Mocke J van Veuren, Kudzanai Chiurai, and Cedric Nunn.
Faye Mfikwe, FNB Chief Marketing Officer, says, “We congratulate Gresham Tapiwa Nyaude on winning the 2024 FNB Art Prize. The FNB Art Prize has become one of the most coveted art prizes on the African continent. As a brand, we remain focused on supporting the creative economy and ensuring that contemporary African art remains a consistent player in the global art landscape. We are immensely proud to of our long-standing sponsorship of FNB Art Joburg and also of the FNB Art Prize, which, for many of the winning artists, have served as a steppingstone on the road to being recognized by the international art scene.”
Born and raised in Mbare, Harare, Nyaude’s images oscillate between figuration, abstraction, and hallucination. To do this, the artist draws from the restless energy of his neighbourhood and country, where more than 70% of the population is under the age of 30. Living on the edge between survival and chaos his visual messages swing between brutal and sentimental. Defying characterisation, his renders capture a generation’s absurdly relentless drive to attain and maintain dignity and a quality of life that sometimes appears beyond reach.
When you look back at the calibre of artists who have won this prize, they are awe inspiring to the public and their peers. They find new ways to use existing materials to interrogate important issues,” says FNB Art Joburg’s Managing Director, Mandla Sibeko. “Gresham is no different. The way he approaches the canvas with paint continues the reflective, conscious, and delicate legacies that the medium has offered through previous winners.”
