African art resonates with baroque period at Zeitz Museum exhibition

An exhibition titled Now and Then: Guercino and Kudzanai Chiurai at the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (Zeitz MOCAA) seeks to examine the potential for multiple viewpoints and exchanges by presenting the works of artists of different time periods.

The museum, in partnership with the consulate of Italy in Cape Town, unveiled the painting Madonna con bambino benedicente (1629) by Italian baroque painter Guercino (1591-1666).

It is shown in dialogue with works by Zimbabwean contemporary artist Kudzanai Chiurai (1981) and explores how the past resonates with the present through contrasting mediums, forms and processes.

The exhibition was organised by Gcotyelwa Mashiqa and Julia Kabat at Zeitz MOCAA. Kabat said: “It has been an interesting process to conceptualise the juxtaposition of an almost 400-year-old painting with a contemporary African artwork.”

Madonna con bambino benedicente depicts a benediction of the Madonna and child, and its religious iconography is one that was prevalent during the 18th century.
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