Minnesota: At 90, art specialist Rex Mhiripiri is selling the gallery he thinks of as ‘a gift from God’
Minnesota Star Tribune
When gallery owner Rex Mhiripiri saw a gas station at 90th Street and Penn Avenue S. in Bloomington, he didn’t see just gasoline. He saw the future home of his huge two-story Mhiripiri Gallery.
That was nearly 20 years ago. At 90, he’s still working six days a week, answering every phone call, whether it’s local, spam or from his native Zimbabwe. And he’s painting. Always painting.
“It’s a gift from God,” Mhiripiri said of his gallery.
Before the Bloomington spot, he was in Butler Square, two other downtown Minneapolis locations and then in Edina.
Mhiripiri is one of a handful of Twin Cities gallerists in business since the 1980s, and the only local dealer specializing in African art and specifically Shona stone sculpture from Zimbabwe. Last month, he put the building and all the artwork in it up for sale.
The asking price? $4 million.
The spacious gallery is filled with Zimbabwe stone sculptures made of springstone, serpentine, opal stone and other stones. They depict families, pregnant women, mothers, daughters, sons and many animals.
Mhiripiri frequently paints elephants, one of his favorite subjects. (Anthony Soufflé/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
African masks and Mhiripiri’s paintings of elephants, other animals and landscapes cover the walls. Prices range from $15 to $150,000.