Life & Work

Russian embassy hosts exhibition for artists

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‘The Singer’ by David Thuku. PHOTO | MARGARETTA WA GACHERU

Ever since Alexander Makarenko and Elena Shadrina came to Kenya four years ago, they have taken time from their busy diplomatic schedules to go see and support the work of local artists.

The Russian ambassador initially had a preference for West African art, including the sort of sculptures and masks that Western artists like Picasso and Braque both collected and were deeply influenced by.

In contrast, his wife Elena has been keen to explore and understand contemporary Kenyan art. That’s what has led them both to trek around Nairobi and to suburbs like Banana Hill and Buru Buru where they’ve visited artists in their studio and art galleries.

As a consequence, they have hosted a good number of group exhibitions featuring local artists at their embassy, which is situated on the same grounds as the ambassador’s residence.

Embassy grounds

They even hosted one group show that attracted so many local artists (around 40) that the artworks spilled over into another large assembly hall on the embassy grounds. The ambassador and his wife didn’t turn anyone away although they finally had to set a limit on the number of works each artist could show!

The ambassador has hosted everyone from Ancent Soi and Camille Wekesa (who were given the first embassy exhibition in 2013) to the Banana Hill artists and most recently, a group of artists the majority of whom come from the new Brush-tu Art Studio in Buru Buru.

Brush-tu Art

The Brush-tu Art artists were initially just three painters, namely Boniface Maina, Michael Musyoka and David Thuku. But they have since been joined by Waweru Gichoka and Elias Mung’oroto.

Out of the five, only Musyoka couldn’t make it to the recent three-day showcase, which coincided with Russia’s National Day on June 12.

But as the ambassador had opened up his front veranda and hallway to the artists, there was room for he and Elena to invite two other artists whose works they especially like, namely Adrian Nduma and John Silver (aka Kimani).

Nduma, who primarily brought his picturesque pastel landscapes to the embassy show, is the former CBA banker-turned-painter who gained fame a couple of years back when one of his paintings sold for more than Sh2 million. The price tag along with the painter made national news after Little Art Gallery owner William Ndwiga got Nduma onto a popular morning TV show to announce the crowd-stopping figure.

Affordable prices

At the embassy show, Nduma’s prices were a lot more affordable but at the time, Ndwiga says he sought to prove the point (especially to parents) that it isn’t only doctors, lawyers and accountants who can earn a comfortable living from their work. Even artists can live well while they practice their art.

The other invited artist, John Silver, was originally one of the early members of the Banana Hill Art Studio. Currently based at Kuona Trust, Silver’s fascinating semi-surrealist works have sometimes been compared to those of the Dutch artist Hieronymus Bosch.

Others, like the ambassador, see a resemblance between his art and that of Salvador Dali. But Silver himself doesn’t liken his work to either of those masters, although he admits that being self-taught, his art has been influenced by countless experiences and ideas, not least of which is the current political climate in the country.

Each of the Brush-tu Art painters has a distinctive style, although like the other two, they all have a versatility and vibrant style that one can only see clearly if you visit their studio in Buru Buru.

For the embassy show, the four were inclined more toward realism with Boniface Maina bringing blissful portraits of African beauties and David Thuku sharing his latest series also of women, only his are pregnant and symbolic, he says, of creativity and the possibility of new awakenings.

Abundant talent

The two ‘newcomers’ to the studio in a sense give an added inkling of the abundance of talent that’s at the core of Brush-tu Art since their styles are again quite distinct.

For while Waweru also brought one portrait of a lovely young woman, his brightly coloured wildlife portrait was frankly the most eye-catching piece in the show.

Finally Mung’oroto, who is the newest (and youngest) studio artist, only brought one painting, but his cityscape was drawn with such delicate brush strokes, one looks forward to seeing more of his art.

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