A painter redefines beauty of outskirts

Samuel Njuguna has been perfecting his landscape painting techniques since he was a child growing up in Banana Hill.

Banana Hill had a studio at the time where the young Njuguna used to go and immerse himself in the space where local artists were teaming up and dreaming of ways to become better painters and sculptors by sharing their art materials as well as their skills. All so-called ‘self-taught’ artists were mentoring one another and including young Njuguna in the process.

Among those early workers were artists like James Mbuthia, Sebastian Kiarie, Martin Kamuyu, Joseph Cartoon, Njuguna’s big brother Willie Wamuti, Rahab Njambi, and the studio's founder, Shine Tani.

“The studio was my first art school,” recalls Njuguna whose solo exhibition just opened up on the top floor of Village Market in Nairobi and runs through November 1.

Technically, he is the solo painter while junk art sculptor Alex Wainaina shares the space, contrasting Njuguna’s paintings with his metallic butterflies and African masks hung decoratively to enhance the overall interest, charm, and beauty of this colourful exhibition.

Njuguna has been part of the local art scene since 2004 when he was still in secondary school. Ever eager to improve his knowledge and artistic skills, the young painter has frequently moved into new art spaces over the years. He was part of the Nuru studio, based in Ruaka, where he first met Mbuthia Maina who was and still is closely associated with Maasai Mbili in Kibera.

He shifted to Kilele Art Centre with Patricia Njeri, John Ndung’u, Irene Wanjiru, and Alex Wainaina, also in Ruaka where he now has his home studio.

Njuguna has also given his time to teach children’s art, first through RaMoMa with James Mbuthia at the children’s wing of Kenyatta National Hospital, and then in Kibera with Mbuthia and the late Solo 7 at the children’s independent School of Ideas.

Meanwhile, he has been exhibiting in countless group shows, everywhere from Nairobi National Museum, Village Market and Dusit D2 to Talisman Restaurant, Manjano, and Photizo Gallery. He has also exhibited abroad, primarily in Asia in Taiwan.

But this is the first time he has taken over the whole top floor of Village Market with more than 30 paintings ranging from Sh50,000 to Sh300,000.

Having the opportunity to watch the development and growth of Njuguna’s artistic style, I have seen fascinating developments in his approach to his landscape paintings.

Initially, he, like so many young painters, created works that he thought might have a market, such as boats, particularly dhows that tourists frequenting the Coast, tend to like taking home as reminders of the beauty they encountered in Kenya.

In the process, he developed techniques in detailed drawing and in blending compatible colours such as can be seen in his current shows. What makes his progression of interest to me is his finally coming around to painting the beauty of his regional territory.

This show reveals far more interest in local scenes which technically are known as peri-urban areas. These are transitional regions that are quasi-rural but still closely linked to urban Nairobi through transit systems that are ever thriving with energy, dynamism, and bustling business.

Njuguna’s scenes just on the outskirts of his hometown, Ruaka, look vaguely familiar. Yet Njuguna transforms images that might otherwise seem mundane and ordinary by highlighting quirky details with dashes of bright colours that make his canvases come to life.

“I paint mainly in acrylics but overlay my paintings with a light layer of oil,” says Njuguna who adds the oils enhance to the sheen and sparkle of his colour schemes.

He still fantasizes about boats at the Coast, and indeed, he boasts that one of his dhows just got sold to Americans who are said to have a whole collection of global boats back home.

But the charm of this exhibition is his bringing his talents to neighborhoods that he knows best. He is hardly the first local artist to paint matatus and village markets, lines of laundry, and country bus stops. But his blending of colours is distinctive, and especially his skies are exceptional.

They have a hint of Van Gogh’s blue hues that draw you into his scenes and allow you to appreciate the richness of his green trees, the redness of his ochre soils, and the durability of old matatus heaped with excess baggage.

These are familiar images of Kenya today, including lots of busy working people enjoying the brightness of the day.