Life & Work

Artwork sells for a million at the Sankara

art lr

Rashid Diab with one of his untitled paintings. PHOTO | MARGARETTA WA GACHERU

While there is increasing evidence that the Kenyan art world is expanding exponentially with new galleries opening and solo and group shows proliferating at a pace that can make one’s head spin and feet sore from dashing here and there, the big news of the week could be the one million shilling sale of an artwork by the acclaimed Sudanese painter and philosopher, Rashid Diab.

The artwork was showcased at Sankara Hotel in a “Contrasts Art Exhibition’ curated by One Off Gallery’s Carol Lees.

Dr Diab came directly from Khartoum specially for the Sankara opening last Wednesday night where he was part of a group show also featuring the artwork of Richard Kimathi, Eric Shitawa, Sophie Walbeoffe and Alex Hamawi, whose lovely hyper-realistic images were echoed at another nearby hotel which is also keen to promote Kenyan arts.

Big attraction

The Dusit D2 has regular end-of-month Saturday open house exhibitions where, last weekend, another hyper-realistic artist, Clavers Odhiambo, brought his easel and work-in-progress, a detailed portrait of the venerable Ivorian poet, Bernard Binlin Dadie, and painted for the public all afternoon.

Other outstanding local artists that displayed their art last Saturday at Dusit D2 were Kamunya Wanjuki and Anne Mwiti, both fine art lecturers at Kenyatta University (whose students are also exhibiting currently at Karen Village), Patrick Kinuthia, Patrick Mukabi, Adrian Nduma, Michelangelo Mwebe (son of the late Expedito Mwebe), Samuel Njuguna, Katanu Kay and Zihan Kassam among others.

One big attraction of the D2 weekend shows is the children’s art corner started by Charles Murito (who’s the mastermind behind to D2 shows) and Patrick Mukabi (who also holds children’s art classes on weekends at The Hub in Karen).

Best works

Mukabi has been mentoring aspiring Kenyan artists for years, and tomorrow, when he’s celebrating the first anniversary of his opening the Dust Depo (next door to the Kenya Railways Museum), he and around 30 (or more) of his former and current students (from age six to 60) will exhibit their best works at Alliance Francaise for the next two weeks.

At 4pm, Mukabi and three of his former students will be painting a massive work to the music of another artist, Peter Elungat.

It should be fascinating to watch.

The other big anniversary being held tomorrow from 10am is the 25th for Banana Hill Art Gallery which in 1991 was still a studio, but one that was brimming over with talent, including Shine Tani, Rahab Njambi, Martin Kamuyu and many others like John Silver Kimani, James Mbuthia, Joe Friday and Joseph Cartoon. Coincidental with the celebrations, the artworks of Ngecha artist Wanyu Brush will also will fill all the walls of Banana Hill.

Brush has had a low profile in the local art world for a while, so it will be a treat to see what he’s been up to in his absence.

And the one other anniversary being celebrated next Tuesday, June 7th is the 70th commemorating the birth of the modern Italian Republic.

To mark the event, Italian Institute of Culture will mount a photographic exhibition , screen a video entitled ‘Phoenix out of Ashes’ and top it off with Italians wines from Sicily.

Oil paintings

Meanwhile, a number of group shows have been extended, such as the one at The Art Space where Wambui Collymore continues featuring an eclectic exhibition of sculpture (Gakunju Kaigwa), paintings (Anne Mwiti and Aron Boruya), prints (Dennis Muraguri), and photography (Osbourne Macharia) that will be up through next Wednesday, June 8th when she gets set to show the latest oil paintings by Boniface Maina, opening the following Saturday, June 11th.

The other solo shows that opened this past weekend are Ehoodi Kichapi’s (which I will review next week) at One Off Gallery and Jared Njuguna’s ‘Passions of Nature’ at the Little Gallery in Karen.

Meanwhile, we have this weekend to see Mike Chalo’s ‘Jua Kali 2’ oil paintings at The Talisman where the latest works of Jeffie Magina will go up at the Restaurant from Monday June 6th.

New galleries

The Nairobi National Museum continues with its ‘Pots and Identities’ exhibition of ancient and contemporary clay works, including ceramics by Waithera Chege, Magdalene Odundo and Edward Njenga (whose new biography is available at the Museum Gift Shop).

The other art students exhibition is at Paa ya Paa where the Academy of Graphic Technology has a show of Louis Dupry’s art students up at PYP’s ‘Ruins’ exhibition hall through next month.