Kudzanai-Violet Hwami “Incantations”: From the Poetry of Atoms to the Magic of Identity | Victoria Miro, London

Victoria Miro presents the new paintings of Zimbabwe-born artist Kudzanai-Violet Hwami, particularly her much-acclaimed Atom series, to audiences in London.

Hwami’s practice is built on fragmentation: unraveling inherited systems and transforming them into a state of ecstasy. The Atom series draws inspiration from Walt Whitman’s “Song of Myself.” The line, “Every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you,” becomes, for the artist, a space of both individual and collective liberation.

These works, with their assembled canvases, form a monumental whole. Each piece is a standalone image, a story, a fragment of identity. Together, they encompass a vast cultural geography, spanning metaphysics to spirituality, expressions of contemporary Black and queer identities, and everyday symbols.

Hwami’s paintings are not merely art; they function like a ritual of invocation. As the fragments come together, the viewer finds themselves in a multilayered space of liberation.

🔗  Apartment No:26 Note: Incantations transforms the fragile fragments of identity into a magical whole. Each atom whispers the poetry of belonging to another.

📍 Kudzanai-Violet Hwami: Incantations

Victoria Miro, London Gallery II

📅 September 26 – November 1, 2025