Zemba Luzamba (b. 1973) is an artist born and raised in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He moved to South Africa to pursue his career as an artist and this experience of migration has allowed him an intimate and sympathetic view of migrant communities which has informed many of his works over the past 15 years. A contemporary realist, Luzamba's paintings hover on the border of satire, at once appearing to mimic the colonial lifestyle of the post-colonial elites while simultaneously bringing it into question. Is this pure observation, aspiration or critique?
Solo exhibitions include Angalia Kwa Karibu (Look Close), Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery, London, UK (2025); Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery, West Palm Beach, USA (2024); Folk Ritual, Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery, Berlin, Germany (2023); Kitendi, Galerie Studer, Abidjan, Ivory Coast (2023); TOTEM, EBONY / CURATED Cape Town, South Africa (2023); In the Name of…, Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery, London, UK (2022); Connexion, EBONY/CURATED Cape Town, South Africa (2019); Déjà vu at the 5th Picha Biennale de Lubumbashi, DR Congo (2017); In The South – Paintings from 2004-(2017), Stellenbosch University Museum, South Africa (2017); Genesis, EBONY/CURATED, Franschhoek, South Africa (2016); It Is What It Is, EBONY/CURATED, Cape Town, South Africa (2015); LA SAPE, AVA Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa (2013); LA SAPE, AVA Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa (2012); Hope for Refugees, Rome, Italy (2005); Untitled, AVA Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa (2004).
Group exhibitions include When We See Us, Bozar Centre for Fine Arts, Brussels, Belgium (2025); Split Infinity, Arak Collection, Artron Art Gallery, Shenzen, China (2025) If You Look Hard Enough, You Could See Our Future, Newcomb Museum of Art, Tulane University, New Orleans (2025); Strategic Interplay, Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, Ohio, USA (2024); AKAA (Also Known As Africa), EBONY/CURATED, Paris, France (2023); Africa Supernova, Museum Kade, Amersfoort, Netherlands (2023); Where the Wild Roses Grow, Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery, Schloss Görne, Germany (2023); If You Look Hard Enough You Can See Our Future, African American Museum, Dallas, USA (2023); Tomorrow is Tomorrow is Tomorrow; Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery, London, UK (2023); When We See Us, Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (Zeitz MOCAA), South Africa (2022); Shout Plenty, the African Artists Foundation, Lagos, Nigeria (2022); AAGA annual African Galleries Now online edition powered by Artsy, Africa (2022); Everything Was Beautiful and Nothing Hurt, FNB Art Joburg, Open City, Keyes Art Mile, Rosebank, Johannesburg, South Africa (2021); 8 by 8, EBONY/CURATED, Cape Town, South Africa (2021); In [the] Loop, EBONY/CURATED, Cape Town, South Africa (2021); FNB Art Joburg online edition, Main Booth, Johannesburg, South Africa (2020); Intersect Chicago online edition of SOFA Expo, Chicago, US (2020); AKAA (Also Known as Africa) 2019, Paris, France (2019); A Smaller Scale, EBONY/CURATED, Cape Town, South Africa (2019); From the Horse’s Mouth, EBONY/CURATED, Cape Town, South Africa (2017); Beyond Binaries, Durban Art Gallery, Durban, South Africa (2016); In Print/In Focus, Michealis Galleries, Cape Town, South Africa (2015); Inner Nature, EBONY/ CURATED, Cape Town, South Africa (2014); Perspectives and Dramascapes with Wycliffe Mundopa, EBONY/CURATED, Cape Town, South Africa (2013); 1:54 Contemporary African Art, Frieze Art Fair, London (2013); First Cape Town Art Fair, Cape Town, South Africa (2013); Art for Africa, Sotheby’s New York, New York City, USA (2011); Hifa, National Gallery of Zimbabwe, Harare Zimbabwe (2008); Sanlam Gallery, Baxter Theatre, Cape Town, South Africa (2007); Xcape Art Circuit, Voyage: Scalabrini, Cape Town, South Africa (2006); Picasso and Africa, Alliance Francaise, Cape Town, South Africa (2006); Iziko South African National Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa (2005); Xenophonia, Alliance Francaise, Cape Town, South Africa (2004); Xenophonia, Alliance Francaise, Cape Town, South Africa (2003); P.E.L.Group of Artists, Lusaka, Zambia (1996); Visual Art Council, Lusaka, Zambia (1995).
Highlights and Collections
Luzamba’s work can be found in international private and public collections, including ARAK Collection, Qatar; Durban Art Gallery, Durban, South Africa; Defise Foundation, London, United Kingdom; Irma Stern Museum, University of Cape Town, South Africa; Nandos Art Collection, London, United Kingdom; Nandos Art Collection, Cape Town, South Africa; Scalabrini House, Bassano Del Grappa, Italy Cultures Inc, California, United States of America; Jorge M. Pérez Collection, Miami, United States; Fondation H Museum, Antananarivo, Madagascar; Zeitz MOCAA Collection, Cape Town, South Africa; Museum of Modern Art, Equatorial Guinea UTA Artist Space Collection, USA; Kilbourn Collection, Cape Town, South Africa; The Spier Art Collection, Cape Town, South Africa and Toledo Museum of Art, Ohio, USA.