Tyburn Foundation presents Quiet Grounds, a group exhibition hosted at PIASA during Art Basel Paris week, showcasing works produced during artist residencies in Italy and Zimbabwe in spring and summer 2025.
The exhibition brings together recent works by Michele Mathison, Driaan Claassen, Primrose Panashe Chingandu and Mbali Tshabalala.
Opening Hours
Friday, October 17, 2025: 10am – 6pm
Saturday, October 18, 2025: 10am – 6pm
Monday, October 20, 2025: 10am – 9pm
Tuesday, October 21, 2025: 10am – 6pm
Wednesday, October 22, 2025: 10am – 6pm
Founded in early 2025 by collector and former gallerist Emma Menell, the Tyburn Foundation supports emerging and mid-career African artists internationally, building on the legacy of Tyburn Gallery.
At Tyburn’s residency space at La Foce, in the Niccone Valley in Umbria, Italy, Michele Mathison continues his exploration of symbolism and the multilayered histories of place. In Perch, a bronze sculpture, he reimagines the African fish eagle – a powerful bird of prey emblematic of southern Africa, featured on the national symbols of Zimbabwe, Zambia, and South Sudan. It is a symbol of identity, resilience, and ecological balance. In African cosmologies, the bird is seen as a spiritual medium, a messenger between worlds. Perch reflects Mathison’s broader practice, where everyday forms become objects of contemplation, blending fragments of ancient cultural history with contemporary symbols, quietly disrupting Western narratives. During his residency, Mathison also created Verso il Cielo, a large-scale public installation inspired by the serenity of the place and its connection to the sky.
Michele Mathison ©Andrea Adriani
Driaan Claassen’s residency took place at Civitella Ranieri, a 15th-century castle in Umbria, as part of a fellowship affiliated with the Tyburn Foundation. There, Claassen expanded his inquiry into human consciousness and the psyche, venturing beyond sculpture for the first time to explore painting. In his new works, layered fields of color are punctuated by sketched lines and dripping pigments, creating a tension between gestural fluidity and sharp abstract forms that echo the structures of his sculptures. These paintings deepen his interest in materiality, form, and emotional resonance.
Driaan Claassen ©Marco Giugliarelli
In Zimbabwe, Primrose Panashe Chingandu and Mbali Tshabalala were hosted in Chitungwiza by artist Admire Kamudzengerere, as part of a collaboration between the Tyburn Foundation and the Animal Farm Artist Residency. Both artists expanded their practices through intensive training in printmaking, while also experimenting across various disciplines.
Mbali Tshabalala ©David Brazier
For Chingandu, the residency was a time of spiritual and creative renewal. Immersed in Zimbabwe’s vibrant artistic community, she reconnected with the essence of her practice, nourished by daily exchanges with other artists and mentors.
Rooted in her ongoing exploration of identity, purpose, and presence – expressed through layered compositions intertwining cultural and autobiographical narratives – her new works investigate the interplay between personal experience and the spiritual weight of the present moment. While printmaking was the foundation of Tshabalala’s residency, her practice quickly expanded to include clay pigment painting, woodcut, collage, hand printing, photography, and ink. Influenced by Zimbabwe’s landscapes, markets, and sunsets, her palette shifted toward earthier tones, drawing on local sensibilities around taboo, ritual, and collective resilience. The resulting body of work addresses spiritual migration, ancestral invocation, and urban resilience, continuing her exploration of how African femininity and memory occupy space in postcolonial cities shaped by fragmentation.
Primrose Panashe Chingandu ©David Brazier
The Tyburn Foundation will be happy to provide you with all the information you need to get the best possible view of the lots you may wish to purchase: condition reports, photographs, videos, etc.
Emma Menell, founder and director,
[email protected]
Alessandra Olivi, programme director,
[email protected]