By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept

News Junction

Notification Show More
Font ResizerAa
  • Home
  • World News
    World NewsShow More
    Ukraine and allies urge Putin to commit to a 30-day ceasefire or face new sanctions – National
    Ukraine and allies urge Putin to commit to a 30-day ceasefire or face new sanctions – National
    May 11, 2025
    Mexican-American singer Johnny Rodriguez, whose 1970s country hits topped charts, dies at 73
    Mexican-American singer Johnny Rodriguez, whose 1970s country hits topped charts, dies at 73
    May 11, 2025
    How this ‘generational shift’ impacts fitness, wellness industries
    How this ‘generational shift’ impacts fitness, wellness industries
    May 10, 2025
    Johor police probing Singapore-registered Maserati driver, 27, for fatal accident at Second Link: Report
    Johor police probing Singapore-registered Maserati driver, 27, for fatal accident at Second Link: Report
    May 10, 2025
    Pakistan retaliates after Indian missile strikes
    Pakistan retaliates after Indian missile strikes
    May 10, 2025
  • Business
    BusinessShow More
    Ukraine blows up bridges to consolidate its positions in Russia
    Ukraine blows up bridges to consolidate its positions in Russia
    August 18, 2024
    Commentary: AI phones from Google and Apple will erode trust in everything
    Commentary: AI phones from Google and Apple will erode trust in everything
    August 18, 2024
    The most famous Indian Dishes – Insights Success
    The most famous Indian Dishes – Insights Success
    August 18, 2024
    Life on the road as a female long rides cyclist
    Life on the road as a female long rides cyclist
    August 18, 2024
    UK inflation rises to 2.2%
    UK inflation rises to 2.2%
    August 18, 2024
  • Cryptocurrency
    CryptocurrencyShow More
    Taiwan eyes Bitcoin as hedge against inflation and US Treasury exposure
    Taiwan eyes Bitcoin as hedge against inflation and US Treasury exposure
    May 11, 2025
    Cyzens Initiates A New Epoch for Decentralized Media Realm with NFTs
    Cyzens Initiates A New Epoch for Decentralized Media Realm with NFTs
    May 11, 2025
    Virginia Man Gets 30 Years For Supporting ISIS
    Virginia Man Gets 30 Years For Supporting ISIS
    May 10, 2025
    Mapping Out the Senate Stablecoin Bill’s Next Steps
    Mapping Out the Senate Stablecoin Bill’s Next Steps
    May 10, 2025
    Bitcoin holds the bulk of its gains from this week’s rally to 0,000, altcoins turn bullish
    Bitcoin holds the bulk of its gains from this week’s rally to $100,000, altcoins turn bullish
    May 10, 2025
  • Technology
    TechnologyShow More
    How to Improve Your Spotify Recommendations
    How to Improve Your Spotify Recommendations
    August 18, 2024
    X says it’s closing operations in Brazil
    X says it’s closing operations in Brazil
    August 18, 2024
    Supermoon set to rise: Top tips for amateur photographers | Science & Tech News
    Supermoon set to rise: Top tips for amateur photographers | Science & Tech News
    August 18, 2024
    Scientists Want to See Videos of Your Cat for a New Study
    Scientists Want to See Videos of Your Cat for a New Study
    August 18, 2024
    OpenAI’s new voice mode let me talk with my phone, not to it
    OpenAI’s new voice mode let me talk with my phone, not to it
    August 18, 2024
  • Entertainment
  • Sports News
  • People
  • Trend
Reading: The collective: Finest artists take up space across the city
Share
Font ResizerAa

News Junction

  • World News
  • Business
  • Technology
  • Cryptocurrency
  • Trend
  • Entertainment
Search
  • Recent Headlines in Entertainment, World News, and Cryptocurrency – NewsJunction
  • World News
  • Business
  • Cryptocurrency
  • Technology
  • Entertainment
  • Sports News
  • People
  • Trend
Have an existing account? Sign In
Follow US
News Junction > Blog > Business > The collective: Finest artists take up space across the city
The collective: Finest artists take up space across the city
Business

The collective: Finest artists take up space across the city

Published February 2, 2024
Share
6 Min Read
SHARE

Contents
Visual ArtsThe collective: Finest artists take up space across the city
Visual Arts

The collective: Finest artists take up space across the city

Friday February 02 2024

Art pieces mounted at the Circle Art Gallery in Nairobi on November 15, 2023. PHOTO | WILFRED NYANGARESI | NMG

If anyone doubts that Nairobi is at the centre of a thriving visual arts scene, they only need to see two and possibly three exhibitions that have opened in the city.

The three are leading venues for contemporary African art. What’s striking is that all three are filled with a different set of artists, the vast majority of whom are Kenyan, although there are a few exceptions. Circle Art’s show also features artists from Ethiopia, Egypt, Uganda, and one Kenyan living in the diaspora. Red Hill Gallery also highlights a splendid stream of Sudanese, as does One Off Gallery, which also includes several ex-pats in their show.

Red Hill’s exhibition is the only one in which nothing is for sale since the gallerist-owner and curator, Hellmuth Rossler Musch, is also an avid collector since the early 1990s.

“I wanted to share my art with others who may not be familiar with the early period of contemporary Kenyan art,” Hellmuth tells the BD Life at the show’s opening. “The exhibition is a kind of retrospective, representing Kenyan artists from the 1980s like Wanyu Brush, Morris Foit, and Annabelle Wanjiku,” he adds. Others include Justus Kyalo and Sudanese painters Salah El Mur and Abushariaa Ahmed, who came to Kenya in the 1990s.

In contrast, Circle Art’s show entitled ‘Evocations’ features mainly artists who have shown their work at the gallery in the recent past. That includes artists like Dickens Otieno, Donald Wasswa, Gor Soudan, Shabu Mwangi, Souad Abdelrassoul, Sujay Shah, Syowia Kyambi, Tabitha wa Thuku, and Theresa Musoke.

Circle has also exhibited works by Agnes Waruguru, Jonathan Gathaara Solanke Fraser, and Tahir Karmali. I hadn’t seen only the young Ethiopian artist Tiemar Tegene before, but her paintings are evocative and powerful.

The Circle Art Show has wonderful energy and diversity—from Syowia’s masks and Wasswa’s finely polished sculptures to Gor’s delicate, colourful gardens and Agnes’ mixed-media textile art. There’s a lot of experimentation and growth going on before our eyes. Plus, it is rare to see so many outstanding female artists in a single show, thanks to the curatorial choices of Circle’s gallerist and owner, Danda Jaroljmel.

art2

Hellmuth and Erica Rossler-Musch of Red Hill Gallery look closely at the painting by El Sadig Agena on the right. PHOTO | COURTESY

The One Off exhibition has a very different feeling and flavour as both galleries, the Loft and the Stables, exclusively embrace the ‘family’ of OO artists with which curator-owner of the gallery Carol Lees has a special relationship.

“Most of the art in this show is new and never seen before,” Carol tells the BD Life on the show’s opening day. “I think galleries have a responsibility to show never-before-seen pieces in their exhibitions,” Carol adds.

That high bar of curatorial work isn’t always easy to meet, as when Ehoodi Kichapi brought his latest oil paintings to the gallery without realising they weren’t quite dry. He’d rolled them to bring them, but unrolling them turned out to be messy and damaged the art.

Fortunately, Ehoodi had more new works ready to replace the damaged pieces. His latest paintings continue to reflect his haunting experiences of a devil woman. “The only way I can silence her {in his head] is by painting,” the artist tells the BD Life.

The two spaces at One Off are effectively balanced with the Stables feeling hot in light of the artworks being shown, especially the blood-red works of Beatrice Wanjiku, which practically overpowers the calming beads of Richard Kimathi, the symbolic drawing of Peterson Kamwathi, and even the last paintings of Timothy Brooke.

Meanwhile, with its pearly white walls, the Loft feels cool, calming, and serene. What made those mood swings between cool and hot possible are the beautiful sky-blue works by two painters, Rashid Diab and Marc Lecchini. In Rashid’s case, the women, possibly refugees from war, walk on an eternal sea of blue sand while Marc blends his blue with impressionist colours like sunflower yellow and rich grassy green.

Together, their art stretches halfway around that gallery. You don’t notice immediately the connection between the two big blue landscapes and the others across the room. But then, you appreciate Patrick Kariuki’s delicate watercolours as he explores the marvels of garden growth. It’s the land being celebrated.

art3

Things from that river that has no name, by Peter Ngugi at One Off Gallery. PHOTO | POOL

Elias Mung’ora’s protest paintings are also about land. Coming from a community of freedom fighters against colonial land grabbers, Elias’s complaint against the historical injustice of settler colonialism is obvious. Land can also be seen as the background to James Mbuthia’s images of beautiful multicoloured African beauties. The full effect is one of harmony in the Loft.

→ [email protected]

#collective #Finest #artists #space #city

TAGGED:artistsCircle ArtCitycollectivefinestMargaretta wa GacheruOne off GalleryRed Hill GallerySpace
Share This Article
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Whatsapp Whatsapp LinkedIn Email Copy Link Print
Share
What do you think?
Love0
Sad0
Happy0
Sleepy0
Angry0
Dead0
Wink0
Previous Article China’s Xpeng is bringing its Tesla FSD equivalent to overseas owners China’s Xpeng is bringing its Tesla FSD equivalent to overseas owners
Next Article Jim Harbaugh is ready to resume his chase of a Super Bowl title with the Chargers Jim Harbaugh is ready to resume his chase of a Super Bowl title with the Chargers
- Advertisement -

Latest Post

Taiwan eyes Bitcoin as hedge against inflation and US Treasury exposure
Taiwan eyes Bitcoin as hedge against inflation and US Treasury exposure
Cryptocurrency
Ukraine and allies urge Putin to commit to a 30-day ceasefire or face new sanctions – National
Ukraine and allies urge Putin to commit to a 30-day ceasefire or face new sanctions – National
World News
Cyzens Initiates A New Epoch for Decentralized Media Realm with NFTs
Cyzens Initiates A New Epoch for Decentralized Media Realm with NFTs
Cryptocurrency
Mexican-American singer Johnny Rodriguez, whose 1970s country hits topped charts, dies at 73
Mexican-American singer Johnny Rodriguez, whose 1970s country hits topped charts, dies at 73
World News
Virginia Man Gets 30 Years For Supporting ISIS
Virginia Man Gets 30 Years For Supporting ISIS
Cryptocurrency
How this ‘generational shift’ impacts fitness, wellness industries
How this ‘generational shift’ impacts fitness, wellness industries
World News
- Advertisement -

You Might Also Like

Japan’s Kishida to visit Fukushima plant to highlight safety before start of treated water release
Business

Japan’s Kishida to visit Fukushima plant to highlight safety before start of treated water release

August 20, 2023
Nasdaq plans hundreds of job cuts
Business

Nasdaq plans hundreds of job cuts

January 31, 2024
London student named Fintech scholarship winner
Business

London student named Fintech scholarship winner

June 26, 2024
In battered China stocks, ‘lottery ticket’ trades gain favour
Business

In battered China stocks, ‘lottery ticket’ trades gain favour

February 17, 2024

About Us

NEWS JUNCTION (NewsJunction.xyz) Your trusted destination for global news. Stay informed with our timely and accurate reporting on diverse topics, including politics, technology, science, entertainment, sports, and more. Count on us for unbiased and reliable updates at your fingertips.

Quick Link

  • About
  • Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Contact

Top Categories

  • World News
  • Business
  • Technology
  • Entertainment
  • Cryptocurrency
  • Sports News
  • Trend
  • People

Subscribe

Subscribe to our newsletter to get our newest articles instantly!

    © 2023 News Junction.
    • Blog
    • Advertise
    • Contact
    Welcome Back!

    Sign in to your account

    Username or Email Address
    Password

    Lost your password?