Visual Art: Utonga Gallery, Mount Pleasant SC

Mt. Pleasant’s Old Village is a quaint neighborhood where shrub-obscured street signs lead to narrow, winding thoroughfares jam-packed with parked cars. It’s the oldest part of Mt. P and it’s on the National Register of Historic Places. Rumor has it that some its residents are too.

Sandwiched between the crafty Out of Hand shop and an old-school pharmacy that opened in the ‘30s is Utonga Gallery. Despite its proximity to the container ships that bring in quarterly shipments of sculptures, this is still an unlikely place for an internationally known gallery. For Tim Anderson, Utonga’s Zimbabwe-born owner, the location is more of a lifestyle choice than a business one.

“We could be anywhere really,” says Anderson. “We sell primarily on the internet to customers all over the place.” He left his homeland in 1980, the same year that it gained its independence, and now travels back there every six to eight weeks to select new stock for Utonga. But recently he’s witnessed a drastic change in the Southern African country.

“Seven years ago I sold my parents’ house in an upscale area for 3.1 million Zimbabwean dollars,” he says. “That was about 60-70,000 US dollars. Now that amount would be worth $5.”

With inflation at 1200% and unemployment at 80%, an Aids pandemic and soaring health costs, the former Jewel of Africa’s major economy-booster – tourism – has collapsed. The repressive government led by President Robert Mugabe has “made no constructive effort to make things better,” Anderson believes.

It might seem that the harsh recession would work in the gallery owner’s favor; up and coming artists have to be very good or very cheap to catch the eyes of dealers. But Anderson wants to support the artists by paying them as much as he can. “You want the guy to be there next time,” he explains. “It’s a tough place, yet beautiful sculpture comes out of there.”

As far as Anderson knows, Utonga’s the only gallery on the East coast that sells such stonework, which explains why parts of the establishment are packed to the rafters with hand-created sculptures.

When we hear the words “African sculpture,” we automatically think of the generic ornamental tosh produced for tourists. Fortunately, although there’s some solely decorative work at Utonga, there’s also plenty of solid art as well.

Anderson and his wife, Dawn, have been able to forge relationships with two generations of Shona sculptors and it’s possible to trace developing trends in the movement while exploring the gallery. Most of the pieces are carved from chunky springstone, dark and smooth with an occasional, colorful mineral vein or flash of volcanic red.

Sam Mabeu’s conceptual “Bird Totem” uses this material and makes it look delicate in places, with the mere suggestion of a beak or a wing. Lincon Muteta’s green opalstone “Abstract” is also rough-hewn, curling and twining to a tapered crag at the top. “They take things from their life, culture and spiritual beliefs,” says gallery manager Brigitte Surette, “staying true to the roots of their tribal region.” But the most accessible pieces for many visitors are the ones that acknowledge modern life too.

Sylvester Mubayi’s “Modern Woman” is a springstone head that plays on primiutive and modern aesthetics, marrying simply carved eyes and ears with complex tresses. Sirio Marezva’s “Letter from My Boyfriend” is close to life-size, taking a traditional figure and plunking a contemporary, handwritten letter in its hands.

The gallery’s progressive feel is increased by the presence of abstracts by Charleston painters, brightening up the stony space. Christopher Murphy echoes early photographic negatives with his acrylic on wood pieces, accompanying some larger multihued work; Lynne Riding contributes colorful, imaginative selections from her “Pritchard Island” and “Spring Island” series.

It’s amazing that these art styles complement each other without making the gallery look too cluttered. The mix of Chucktown art with ambitious African abstract sculptures is diverse yet that’s part of its charm, reflecting the quirky environment of the Old Village. “This neighborhood is eclectic and different,” says Surette, “just like us.”