Zwelethu Mthethwa (born 1960) is a South African painter and photographer. He was convicted of
murder
Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person wit ...
in 2017, and is currently incarcerated at
Pollsmoor Prison
Pollsmoor Prison, officially known as Pollsmoor Maximum Security Prison, is located in the Cape Town suburb of Tokai in South Africa. Pollsmoor is a maximum security penal facility that continues to hold some of South Africa's most dangerous c ...
.
Biography
Mthethwa, a native of
Durban
Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...
, graduated from the
Michaelis School of Fine Art
The Michaelis School of Fine Art was founded in 1925, and is the Fine Arts department of the University of Cape Town. The school's current director is Associate Professor Kurt Campbell.
There are three research institutions associated with the sch ...
,
University of Cape Town
The University of Cape Town (UCT) ( af, Universiteit van Kaapstad, xh, Yunibesithi ya yaseKapa) is a public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university statu ...
. In 1985 he received a
Fulbright Scholarship
The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...
to study at the
Rochester Institute of Technology
Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) is a private university, private research university in the town of Henrietta, New York, Henrietta in the Rochester, New York, metropolitan area. The university offers undergraduate and graduate degree ...
, where he received a
Master of Fine Arts
A Master of Fine Arts (MFA or M.F.A.)
is a terminal degree in fine arts, including visual arts, creative writing, graphic design, photography, filmmaking, dance, theatre, other performing arts and in some cases, theatre management or arts admini ...
degree in imaging arts in 1989. Upon returning home, he worked for some years in business, and then became a lecturer on photography and drawing at the Michaelis School in 1994. He left the post in 1999 to devote himself full-time to his art. Mthethwa is known for his
large format
Large format refers to any imaging format of or larger. Large format is larger than "medium format", the or size of Hasselblad, Mamiya, Rollei, Kowa, and Pentax cameras (using 120- and 220-roll film), and much larger than the frame o ...
color photographs, but also works in paint and pastel; he has had over 50
solo exhibition
A solo show or solo exhibition is an exhibition of the work of only one artist. The artwork may be paintings, drawings, etchings, collage, sculpture, or photography. The creator of any artistic technique may be the subject of a solo show. Other s ...
s in galleries around the world.
His work was included in the 2005
Venice Biennale
The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of ...
and the 2004
Gwangju Biennale
The Gwangju Biennale is a contemporary art biennale founded in September 1995 in Gwangju, South Jeolla province, South Korea. The Gwangju Biennale is hosted by the Gwangju Biennale Foundation and the city of Gwangju. The Gwangju Biennale Founda ...
.
Murder conviction
In 2014, Mthethwa was charged with the murder of a 23-year-old woman named Nokuphila Kumalo. According to Jillian Steinhauer, "The murder took place on April 13, 2013 when a man brutally hit and kicked Kumalo, who's believed to have been a sex worker, to death on a street in Woodstock, a suburb of Cape Town. Closed-circuit cameras captured the assault and led police to Mthethwa. There is also reportedly an eye witness. The artist denies the charges and claims innocence."
The trial was postponed several times, after the initial allegations. Sentencing proceedings began as expected on 24 May 2014. According to Ashleigh Furlong, "The defence's two witnesses, clinical psychologist Martin Yodaiken and social worker Anne Cawood, testified today in the Western Cape High Court on the first day of sentencing proceedings. Both emphasised that if sent to prison, Mthethwa would be unable to support family members and would not be able to contribute to society." She goes on to state, "The maximum non-custodial sentence is five years. The minimum sentence for murder with intent, in the form of dolus eventualis, which Mthethwa was convicted of, is 15 years. However, this can be reduced if there are mitigating circumstances." The witnesses brought up previous explanations of memory loss due to intoxication from alcohol as mitigating factors. However, Xolani Koyana, explained that the "prosecutor Christenus van der Vijver put it to Yodaiken that the court had rejected Mthethwa's memory loss argument as fabrication. He told him he found it strange that someone could stomp another person 62 times and not recall such a violent act. The prosecutor told the court a non-custodial sentence would be a slap on the wrist and send the wrong message to the public."
Mthethwa's trial was postponed again on 1 June 2015. The postponement was approved so additional evidence could be collected. Apparently, Mthethwa's lawyer William Booth had trouble gaining access to private properties to gather verbal evidence. The trial continued on 2 June 2015. Mthethwa plead not guilty, and the court was set to continue on 8 June 2015.
According to Ashley Furlong, as of 3 February 2016, Mthethwa's case was again delayed. Furlong stated, "The reason for
hedelay was twofold—the Shona interpreter for a Zimbabwean man who was set to take the stand was very sick, and there was a need to compile a 'working document' of the papers that forensic pathologist Dr Linda Liebenberg might refer to."
As of 16 March 2017 (almost 4 years after Nokuphila Kumalo's murder and 3 years since the beginning of the trial), Mthethwa was found guilty of murder. "According to ArtThrob, who reported from inside the courtroom, Mthethwa's bail has been withdrawn. His sentencing will be delivered on March 29, 2017...The verdict was met with jubilation, on site and on social media channels. Outside the courthouse, activists from
Sex Workers Education and Advocacy Taskforce (SWEAT) and Sonke Gender Justice were celebrating the guilty verdict."
On 29 March 2017, he requested bail. According to Jenna Ethridge, Mthethwa requested bail to be with his family and make arrangements for his art. She went on to state, "Mthethwa wanted to personally inform his 15-year-old daughter in England of his conviction. He
lso intendsto sort out her tertiary education and funding for the next few years...The court
ill ILL may refer to:
* ''I Love Lucy'', a landmark American television sitcom
* Illorsuit Heliport (location identifier: ILL), a heliport in Illorsuit, Greenland
* Institut Laue–Langevin, an internationally financed scientific facility
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rule on Mthethwa's bail on Friday
1 March 2017 Sentencing arguments
erepostponed until April 20." As expected, Mthethwa's bail was denied on 31 March 2017. Yet another delay, as of 20 April 2017, Mthethwa's sentencing was postponed by Judge
Patricia Goliath
Honorable Deputy Judge President Patricia Lynette Goliath (born 15 October 1964) is a judge of the High Court of South Africa and the Deputy Judge President of the Western Cape High Court. Deputy Judge President Goliath acted as a Constitutiona ...
until 24 May 2017.
Sentencing proceedings were slated to resume on Wednesday 31 May 2017 at 9 am. On 7 June 2017 he was sentenced to 18 years imprisonment for the murder of Nokuphiwa Kumalo. As stated in the ''Daily Maverick'', "The accused's standing as an international acclaimed artist does not earn him a special sentence," said Western Cape High Court Judge Patricia Goliath.
Selected solo exhibitions
*2009: ''Zwelethu Mthethwa: New Works'', Jack Shainman Gallery, New York
*2010: ''Zwelethu Mthethwa'', iArt Gallery, Cape Town
*2010: ''Zwelethu Mthethwa: Is it our goal…? And Other Related Issues'', Circa on Jellicoe, Johannesburg, South Africa
*2010: ''Zwelethu Mthethwa: Brick workers & Contemporary Gladiators'', Galeria Oliva Arauna, Madrid, Spain
*2010: ''Zwelethu Mthethwa: Inner Views'', Studio Museum in Harlem, New York
*2011: ''New Works'', iArt Gallery (now Brundyn + Gonsalves), Cape Town
*2012: ''Zwelethu Mthethwa: Sugar Cane (2003–2007)'', curated by
Diego Cortez
James Allan Curtis (September 30, 1946 – June 21, 2021), known professionally as Diego Cortez, was an American filmmaker and art curator closely associated with the no wave period in New York City. Cortez was the co-founder of the Mudd Club, ...
.
John Hope Franklin Center, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina.
*2012: ''Zwelethu Mthethwa'', curated by Kirsten Hileman,
The Baltimore Museum of Art
The Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) in Baltimore, Maryland, United States, is an art museum that was founded in 1914. The BMA's collection of 95,000 objects encompasses more than 1,000 works by Henri Matisse anchored by the Cone Collection of ...
, Maryland
*2013: ''Zwelethu Mthethwa: New Works'', Jack Shainman Gallery
Further reading
* Michael Godby, Zwelethu Mthethwa, Octavio Zaya. ''Zwelethu Mthethwa'', Torino, Marco Noire Editore, 1999.
* Njami Simon, Lucy Durán. ''Africa Remix: Contemporary Art of a Continent'', Johannesburg, Jacana Media, 2007.
* Zwelethu Mthethwa,
Isolde Brielmaier
Isolde Brielmaier (born 1971) is an American curator and scholar working in New York City.
Early life and education
Brielmaier was born in Seattle, Washington to Ugandan and Austrian parents who encouraged involvement in the arts. She studied ...
,
Okwui Enwezor
Okwui Enwezor (23 October 1963 – 15 March 2019) was a Nigerian curator, art critic, writer, poet, and educator, specializing in art history. He lived in New York City and Munich. In 2014, he was ranked 24 in the ''ArtReview'' list of the 100 m ...
. ''Zwelethu Mthethwa'', New York, Aperture, 2010.
References
External links
Bio from the National Museum of African Art
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mthethwa, Zwelethu
1960 births
Living people
Male painters
South African photographers
South African contemporary artists
Michaelis School of Fine Art alumni
Academic staff of the University of Cape Town
Rochester Institute of Technology alumni
20th-century South African painters
20th-century male artists
20th-century photographers
21st-century painters
21st-century photographers
South African male painters