Washington Elegant Beauty (Artwork)
In 2012, the DuSable Museum installed two newly acquired Shona sculptures in the plaza area near the building鈥檚 front entrance. Entitled Elegant Beauty and Unconditional Love, these artworks were donated by Sheila Handwerker.
Luxon Karise (b. 1968) created Elegant Beauty. Born in Guruve, Zimbabwe, Karise has never travelled outside of his homeland. He has been a full time artist since 1988. Karise cites his cousin, Benard Matemera, one of the influential of Zimbabwe鈥檚 Shona sculptors, as an important source of inspiration to his own work. According to the Art Creations Africa website, Karise鈥檚 earlier exposure to crafts in school 鈥渃ontributed much to his courage and determination to work and live in the visual independent world of creation, beyond the reach of Nyikadzimu (world of spirits). Elegant Beauty is carved from Serpentine stone. The abstract sculpture has a gently curving verticle form with a face subtly exposed in the the stone.
Location: Adjacent to entryway of DuSable Museum of African American History