Sydney Alex Kumalo (1935âÂÂ1988) was a South African sculptor. Together with Anton van Wouw, Edoardo Villa and Ezrom Legae he is regarded as one of South Africa's best sculptors. He sculpted in clay, terracotta, and Plaster of Paris. Most of his sculptures were cast in bronze by the Renzo Vignali foundry in Pretoria.
Sydney Alex Kumalo was born on 13 April 1935 in Sophiatown, Johannesburg and raised in a Zulu family. He attended Madibane High School in Soweto, South Africa. He enrolled as a student of Cecil Skotnes at the Polly Street Art Centre in 1952 . He attended the art centre, working alongside Cecil Skotnes as a teacher, until 1957, when he was appointed as his assistant. In 1957, Skotnes and his students were commissioned to decorate the ceilings of the new Church of St Peter Claver in Seisoville, Kroonstad. In addition to the ceiling decoration, Kumalo was asked to sculpt the Stations of the Cross and to produce sculptures of Christ and Mary. These were Kumalo's first attempts at sculpture.
Most of his art training came from the Polly Street Art Centre. There he received guidance from Cecil Skotnes and Egon Guenther. In 1958, Kumalo studied with Edoardo Villa, a leading South African sculptor, for 2 years. He also worked as an assistant to Skotnes. Working with Villa had a great influence on Kumalo's style and form of expression. He helped to implement modernism with an African background into Kumalo's work. When the Polly Street Art Centre relocated to the Jubilee Social Centre in Eloff Street, Johannesburg in 1960, it was renamed the Jubilee Art Centre and Kumalo took over from Skotnes as the senior art instructor. He held the post from 1960 - 1964. When Kumalo retired from his teaching post at the Jubilee Art Centre in 1964, Ezrom Legae replaced him, first as an assistant and then as co-director of the Centre.
He was part of the Amadlozi Group founded in 1963, which included Cecily Sash, Cecil Skotnes, Edoardo Villa, and Guiseppe Cattaneo. The name âÂÂAmadloziâ (Zulu: spirit of our ancestors) was used for a conscious appropriation of African sculptural traditions; this group had an African influence in their art and used their culture as a form of expression. Their group was promoted by Egon Guenther. Guenther influenced the group with German Expressionism and arranged exhibitions in Italy during 1963 and 1964. This would be the start of Kumalo's international career. Kumalo became a full-time artist after 1964, which in turn, had him resign from his teaching career at the Jubilee Art Centre.
From 1960 to 1972, Kumalo was represented by the influential Johannesburg gallerist Egon Guenther and from 1973 until his death by the Goodman Gallery in Johannesburg. He was also represented by the prestigious Grosvenor Gallery in London and New York in 1965 and 1966. Over the course of his career Kumalo produced 125 sculptures; 81 while represented by the Egon Guenther Gallery, 6 while represented by the Grosvenor Gallery and 38 while represented by the Goodman Gallery.
From 1957 to 1961, Kumalo contributed to four church commissions: the Church of St Peter Claver in Seisoville, Kroonstad, 1957; the Church of St Martin de Porres in Orlando, Johannesburg, 1958; the Church of Our Lady of the Rosary in Thabong near Welkom, 1960/1961; and the Church in Roma, Lesotho, 1961.
His work was included in multiple South African exhibitions. Kumalo's talent and promise as a sculptor came to prominence at his first public showing in 1958, followed by six exhibitions in 1960. He was the winner of the special award for the most promising up and coming artist at the Artists of Fame and Promise 1960 exhibition held by the Lawrence Adler Galleries, Johannesburg, July 1960. In May 1962 the Egon Guenther Gallery hosted Kumalo's first solo exhibition. In 1963, he won the Philip Frame Award at the Art South Africa Today exhibition at the Durban Art Gallery for âÂÂthe most promising up and coming artistâÂÂ.
Kumalo's international career began in the mid 1960's. He participated in exhibitions in Europe and the United States. He was invited to multiple international events and won numerous awards. In 1967, he was invited to visit the USA and Europe as a guest of the United States/South African Leadership Exchange Programme, or the USSALEP.
In 1988 he was included in "The Neglected Tradition Exhibition" at the Johannesburg Art Gallery. In 2018, Kumalo's sculptures were exhibited at Re/discovery and Memory, the works of Kumalo, Legae, Nitegeka and Villa, Norval Foundation, Cape Town. In June 2023, Kumalo's sculptures featured in a major retrospective exhibition at Strauss & Co's offices in Johannesburg, which accompanied the launch of a Catalogue Raisonne on the sculptures of Sydney Kumalo and Ezrom Legae.
Kumalo's most used medium was terracotta. The terracotta was then cast in bronze. His work showed a great amount of expressionism and contemporary aspects. It also showed ideas of symbolism and imagery. There was a large attention to detail during the molding and casting process. It's evident that he took inspiration from life in his work. The themes that he work with the most were the idea of the human, the beast, and shaping the human body into anthropomorphic forms. He work mostly reflects things such as on reincarnation, the influences of good and evil, and the influence of ancestors.
Kumalo saw the human body and the animal body to be in close relation to each other physically and spiritually. The stance of his figures mostly resemble animals. His work can be closely related to early African carvings and tribal art. They both conveyed true passion and emotion and showed the fear of evil powers over them that they had no control of. His style can also show influences from primitivism. Many of his works' facial expressions could be compared to African Tribal masks. His figures where usually disproportionate with larger features and elongated torsos. There is a sense of controlled movement, simplicity, and somewhat restraint within his work.
Kumalo received many awards and accolades in acknowledgement of his talents, both in South Africa and internationally, at a time in South AfricaâÂÂs history when official policies were intensely discriminatory and negatively impacted black people.
Kumalo's sculptures were exhibited on many occasions during his lifetime and after his death in solo and group exhibitions both at leading South African galleries and at high profile galleries in the UK, Europe and the USA.