"Take a pause, look closely, because a lot can be lost otherwise."
Zemba Luzamba (Lutanda Zemba Luzamba, b. 1973, Lubumbashi, DRC) is a Congolese painter based in South Africa, celebrated for his elegant portraits of the sapeurs, the impeccably dressed members of the Congolese SAPE subculture. Trained at the Evelyn Hone College in Lusaka, Zambia, he settled in South Africa in 2000, where the experience of migration shaped his sympathetic vision of transnational African communities. A contemporary realist whose oil paintings hover on the border of satire, he uses tailored suits and precise body language to explore identity, power, migration and the quiet politics of everyday life. He exhibits internationally with Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery and EBONY/CURATED, and his works are held in the Zeitz MOCAA, the Toledo Museum of Art and the Jorge M. Pérez Collection, among others. He lives and works in Cape Town.