Arts

Cornucopia of affordable art in Nairobi galleries

BonifaceMuema

Boniface Maina whose artworks are on display at Circle Art Gallery in Nairobi’s Lavington. FILE PHOTO | NMG

Following on the heels of Circle Art Gallery’s first Online East African Art Auction which fetched Sh14 million, the gallery will be hosting the artworks of Boniface Maina through November 28.

Opening with his first solo exhibition at Circle Art on Wednesday night, the co-founder of Brush tu Artists Collective is exhibiting a quirky collection of paintings entitled ‘Waiting, Watching, Wishing’.

The paintings are a fascinating array of imagery that is autobiographical. That means every painting begs you to ask, what was in his mind to inspire him to paint his lean, angular man in this position or that? Meanwhile, this weekend marks a bonanza for Kenyan art lovers as several other galleries are exhibiting a plethora of paintings and sculptures by local artists.

From Friday night through Sunday, the 8th annual Affordable Art Show will be on at Kenya National Museum. Featuring no less than 156 new works by 80 local artists, the annual event is organised by the Kenya Museum Society.

Due to the pandemic, the artwork selection process has been transformed by safety practices.

“It’s meant that we only feature just over 150 artworks rather than 420 as in years past,” said Dr Marla Stone, the chief co-ordinator of the show.

The big draw to the Affordable Art Show is the price; no artwork will be sold over Sh99,000.

Although the price has kept some artists away in previous sales since they feel their art has a higher value than that, the pandemic has made it difficult for many artists to find prospective buyers.

Finally, art lovers should save their Saturday, October 31 for the opening of One Off Gallery’s ‘Then and Now’ exhibition.

Featuring artists who have been with One Off as well as with its precursor, RaMoMa (Rahimtulla Museum of Modern Art) which shut down ten years ago, Carol Lees (chief gallerist at both venues) has curated a unique exhibition.

Drawing from RaMoMa’s permanent collection which resides with Carol, the show will juxtapose artists' works from the past and the present. This will allow the public to see just how much the artists have evolved in 10 years or more.

One Off gallery will exhibit works by 20 of Kenya’s leading painters, sculptors, and printmakers.

They include Anthony Okello, Beatrice Wanjiku, Bertiers Mbatia, Camille Wekesa, James Mbuthia, Kyalo Justus, Mandy Bonnell, Mary Collis, Patrick Mukabi, Peter Ngugi, Peterson Kamwathi, Richard Kimathi, Simon Muriithi, Sophie Walboeffe, Syowia Kyambi, Thom Ogonga, Timothy Brooke and Xavier Verhoest.

The show will run through November 22.