The “Self Portrait†Series was inspired by Ronald’s desires to preserve the history of portraiture. His intention is to highlight and extend the narrative while including an analysis of his dark skinned tone to unpack the socio-political stereotypes of beauty and belonging.
“The Art of Self Portraiture is slowly fading away which concerns me because it’s losing its pride of place in the international painting community. Therefore, I want to leave a portraiture legacy for my descendants so that they have the opportunity to learn about their ancestors after I’m gone. It’s also really important for me to dissect and use my blackness as a reference towards what’s happening internally and how I am perceived in a racially charged society,†explains Muchatuta.
Muchatuta draws the viewer in with each artwork by sharing personal objects that are of interest to him with various aesthetics by juxtaposing them in layers to give the viewer insight about himself. He uses his favourite flower and his jacket’s Kitenge/Chitenge pattern which he distorted into life like replicas to unify the idle, nature and the virtual because humanity is currently immersed in a culture of ‘selfies’.
“I’m truly honoured to be selected as one of the artists participating in the Contemporary Painting Group Exhibition at The Brickslane Gallery in London. It’s a wonderful opportunity for me to share my artwork with the English community,†exclaims Muchatuta.
“Painting is one of the most influential and important mediums that artists have worked with to date. We are excited by how many different themes and techniques can be sued from classic, to cultures, abstract or figurative so we created this exhibition to allow artists working in every genre to participate in one colorful group show. The aim of the group show is to allow emerging artists based in both the UK and abroad to display their works as part of a curated exhibition run by the gallery, and with over 10 years’ experience in the field, we have displayed some amazing works,†comments Lucy Fiddian-Green, Gallery Manager of The Bricklane Gallery.
Post published in: Arts