Opening Date: November 18, 2012
Venue: One Off Contemporary
Time: 11 am – 5 pm
Exibition Runs Until: January 23, 2013 [Except Monday’s and Public Holidays]
Office Hours: 11 am – 5 pm
Contacts: 0722 521 870 or oneoff@africaonline.co.ke
Paintings Exhibition: Riziki by Tom Ogonga, Nov. 14-30 2012 @ Alliance
Dates: November 14-30, 2012
Venue: Alliance Francaise, Ground Floor Gallery
This is an exhibition of recent paintings & prints by Ogonga Thom featuring his current body of work where he has combined his ‘typical illustrative paintings & drawings’ while experimenting with conventional printmaking techniques in painting.
He is exploring human relationships while interrogating how humans behave within a space depending on who/what is in that particular space within the threshold of darkness (night-life) as the core theme of his work.
About
Tom is born, raised, schooled, working and living in Nairobi-Kenya
Ogonga Thom is an artist inspired by fashion, music, urban lifestyles and even more fascinated by the controversial city nightlife. All the activities that color the night excite the artist in him and feature prominently as the theme of his work.
He is also involved in project conceptualization & implemenation and writes art-related articles for his blog (thealternativewriter.blogspot.com) and upon request.
Tom has exhibited widely and featured in various public art projects both locally and abroad.
For more information check the Facebook event page
Photo Exhibition: I am 20 Years Old in My Country, Nov. 3-30 2012 @ Alliance
In 2010, Alliance Française de Nairobi registered Kenya in the first international photography competition launched by the Foundation Alliance Française on the theme ‘J’ai 20 ans dans mon pays’ (I am 20 yrs old in my country).
1400 amateurs from 60 different countries participated and submitted their most beautiful photos on the suject. Selected first at the local level across the 98 participating Alliances Françaises, then at the international level by a professional jury, the best photographs make up this exhibition on the youth of the world. The exhibition was first presented in France then in the United States, South Africa, India and China. It regroups the work of 26 finalists from the around the world.
Don’t miss this exhibition that reveals a new vision of the youth of the world and includes the work of James Otieno, the winner from Kenya.
Installation: Hip-Hop is Dead by Oliver Okoth, Nov. 8-31 2012 @ National Museum
Dates: November 3-31, 2012
Venue: Creativity Gallery, National Museum
Entry: Museum Rates Apply
When you turn on the radio and hip-hop tunes in, do you think music or din? That is the point that Victor Okoth addresses as he takes us on a musical art journey with striking compositions and installations motivated by hip-hop sounds and lyrics.
The main message in this exhibition, which resonates with American rapper Nas eighth studio album Hip-Hop Is Dead, is that whereas original hip-hop had deep messages that were intended by marginal black youth to shed light on contemporary politics, history, and race, today’s hip hop is caught in fierce crosswinds of vulgarism, bling-bling materialism and violence.
Hip-Hop is important to Okoth precisely because American hip hop artists are to some extend responsible for influencing social behaviour of Kenyan youth. And that is what provoked him to use his artistic expression to analyze hip-hop.
The exhibition begins by highlighting what Okoth sees as good hip-hop and ends with a dramatic installation of a shooting ring.
Exhibition: Life Expression by Joseph Cartoon, Nov. 3-31 2012 @ National Museum
Dates: November 3-31, 2012
Venue: Creativity Gallery, National Museum
Entry: Museum Rates Apply
About Joseph Cartoon
Since selling his first piece in 1994 to Gallery Watatu, one of the earliest & most prestigious galleries of the time, Kenyan artist Cartoon (Joseph Njuguna) has participated in numerous group exhibitions and solo shows in East Africa, USA, Canada, France, Germany, Denmark, Japan, and Korea among other countries.
Some of his achievements include appearing on the cover of Contemporary African Art, a prestigious annual catalogue on Contemporary Art in Africa (1999) and winning the Royal Oversees League Award (2001, as well as being the only nominee from Africa). The latter award earned him a 2 year residency in the UK after which he continued to participate in local and world art projects that have seen him become one of the most collected artists in Kenya.
The powerful interplay of symbolism and colour is outstanding in Cartoon’s art that mainly features the traditional African woman, folk tales and daily aspects of the African family. Other outstanding features are mushrooms indicating the rich highlands where he was born and a chameleon acknowledging ever changing times.
Cartoon is married with two boys and lives and paints in Nairobi.
Exhibition: Ordinary People, Ordinary Politics by Nyawanda, Nov 8-16 2012 @ Nairobi National Museum
Moses Nyawanda
Moses Nyawanda is a painter who works in series says, “Most of my pieces are urban-based and so I call them “The Urban Survival Syndrome.” to justify my characters’ need to possess extraordinary instincts in order to survive in this “Man Eat Man society” we find ourselves involuntarily into. I also try to pre-empt the notion that extraordinary people cannot do ordinary tasks. Often, this is called humility.
The political subjects wear animal faces, Nyawanda’s way of depicting greed. He calls the moments “The Gray Areas” because the compositions are always hinged between an incident which has happened and one about to happen.
Nyawanda, considers this to be the defining moment where the characters get to make a choice whether to go on to the next stage or not. Ultimately though, it is upon the viewer, to visualize what happens before and after the painting is done.
The exhibition also features sculptures by Michael Dete.
