BS0319

Inclining Figure

72 kgs

700 x 470 x 270mm

£2800

BS0492

Indecisive

23 kgs

300 x 500 x 240mm

£1800

BRIGHTON SANGO  (1958 -1995)

Brighton Sango was one of Zimbabwe's second generation of sculptors, who have emerged since independence in 1980. He was born in 1958 in Guruve, a rural area in the north-east of Zimbabwe.

He began sculpting as a result of contact with the rural    community of sculptors at Tengenenge, where he learned the basic techniques. He stayed there for only a few months, however, as he strongly felt the need to be able to work on his own and to develop his own style. Sango's style continued to evolve, but from an early stage his work had already          developed a distinctive and individual quality. From the     mid 1980's his work increasingly tended towards abstraction incorporating sharp lines and angled planes, in contrast to the much softer, more rounded approach of earlier pieces. (His mentor at Tengenenge was Bernard Matemera, yet stylistically their work could hardly be more different).

Sangos's work clearly displays his mastery of the medium. To most Western observers, his work appears to be the least 'African' and it is certainly more abstract than that of any other leading Zimbabwean sculptor. Fre

quently his sculptures have, to Western observers familiar with the language of Western art, been seen as having distinctly cubist characteristics. But to describe such works as 'cubist' and imply thereby Western influence on his work, would be as inaccurate as to claim that David      Livingstone 'discovered' Victoria Falls. The West cannot yet claim credit for the artistic and creative genius of Africa. Sango was one of Zimbabwe's brightest artistic talents, but one which, sadly, shone all too briefly. ..