‘Seasons Within A Season’ A Solo Exhibition by Tabitha Wa Thuku, Jun. 19 – Jul. 20 2024 @ Circle Art Gallery, Victoria Square – Riara Road.

by with One Comment art exhibitsevents

Opening: June 19, 2024
Venue: Circle Art Gallery, Victoria Square – Riara Road
Time: 6-8 PM

Exhibition Dates: Until July 20, 2024.

About
Born in the year of Independence, Tabitha Wa Thuku began her creative practice as a young, self-taught artist and one of the only female artists of her generation. With a career of over three decades, Wa Thuku has developed a painterly language unencumbered by convention, her works distinguished by a brooding palette which ranges from subtle browns to rich reds. 

Wa Thuku originally studied Textiles and Clothing Technology at Kenya Polytechnic, then from 1996 to 1999 she attended the Buruburu Institute of Fine Arts. She has undertaken various workshops and residencies to develop a wide range of techniques, demonstrated in her extensive body of work. In addition to her own artistic production, she has also worked as an art educator, teaching and mentoring children and young artists. Wa Thuku has exhibited regularly throughout her career in Kenya and abroad, including in The Netherlands, Italy, Hong Kong and Denmark.

In 2022 her work was featured in a retrospective exhibition alongside Yony Waite and Theresa Musoke at Circle Art Gallery. Her work is included in private and public collections in Kenya, including those of the National Museum of Kenya, the Safaricom collection, PwC and MMC Africa Law.

‘Seasons Within A Season’ A Solo Exhibition by Tabitha Wa Thuku, Jun. 19 – Jul. 20 2024 @ Circle Art Gallery, Victoria Square – Riara Road.

by with One Comment art exhibitsevents

Opening: June 19, 2024
Venue: Circle Art Gallery, Victoria Square – Riara Road
Time: 6-8 PM

Exhibition Dates: Until July 20, 2024.

About
Born in the year of Independence, Tabitha Wa Thuku began her creative practice as a young, self-taught artist and one of the only female artists of her generation. With a career of over three decades, Wa Thuku has developed a painterly language unencumbered by convention, her works distinguished by a brooding palette which ranges from subtle browns to rich reds. 

Wa Thuku originally studied Textiles and Clothing Technology at Kenya Polytechnic, then from 1996 to 1999 she attended the Buruburu Institute of Fine Arts. She has undertaken various workshops and residencies to develop a wide range of techniques, demonstrated in her extensive body of work. In addition to her own artistic production, she has also worked as an art educator, teaching and mentoring children and young artists. Wa Thuku has exhibited regularly throughout her career in Kenya and abroad, including in The Netherlands, Italy, Hong Kong and Denmark.

In 2022 her work was featured in a retrospective exhibition alongside Yony Waite and Theresa Musoke at Circle Art Gallery. Her work is included in private and public collections in Kenya, including those of the National Museum of Kenya, the Safaricom collection, PwC and MMC Africa Law.

Solo Exhibition: ‘(Un)Contained Turbulence’, by Shabu Mwangi, Apr. 24 – May 5 2024 @ Circle Art Gallery, Victoria Square – Riara Road.

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Opening: April 24, 2024

Venue: Circle Art Gallery

Time: 6-8 PM

Exhibition Dates: Until May 5, 2024.

About

Shabu Mwangi‘s practice focuses on the effects of contemporary and historical violence, and other forms of marginalization on individual and collective psyches. Mwangi’s mixed media compositions are an abstracted emotional reflection of societal and cultural fissures. 

His current body of work continues to build on explorations of human interiority when faced with structural violence that affect the individual, community and society at large.

Mwangi has lived and worked in Mukuru, an informal settlement in Nairobi where he co-founded the Wajukuu Art Project in 2003. In 2023, he was a finalist for the Access Art X Prize in the Africa/Diaspora category. In 2022 Mwangi and fellow members of the Wajukuu Art Project participated in Documenta 15 in Kassel, where they went on to win the Arnold Bode prize. He also participated in the 13 Biennial do Mercosul in Brazil, 2022. Recent solo and group exhibitions include: Self Addressed, curated by Kehinde Wiley for Deitch Gallery, Los Angeles, 2023; Systems to Emptiness, a prelude to Documenta 15, 2022; A Never Ending Longing, Circle Art Gallery, Cromwell Place, London, 2022; The Sources of Our Seas, Circle Art Gallery, 2021; East African Encounters, Cromwell Place, London, 2021.

Other shows include: The Man with Two Shadows, Circle Art Gallery online, 2020; Yawning for Power, Tilleard Projects, 2019; The Stateless, Circle Art Gallery, 2018; Freedom, Flight, Refuge, Circle Art Gallery, 2017; Art Transposition, Nairobi-Kampala-Hamburg, LKB Gallery, Hamburg; Pop-Up Africa, GAFRA, London, 2017; Out of the Slum, Essen, 2012.

Mwangi has participated in residency programs in Kenya, Germany and Italy.

Exhibition: ‘Trails’ by Dickens Otieno, Nov. 29 2023 – Jan. 6 2024 @ Circle Art Gallery, Victoria Square – Riara Road.

by with No Comment art exhibits

Opening: November 29, 2023

Venue: Circle Art Gallery, Victoria Square – Riara Road

Time: from 6 PM Dates:

Until January 6, 2024.

About

Circle Art present a series of new works, more ambitious in scale and experimental techniques exemplifying not only Dickens technical prowess, but also, the expanding material and visual vocabulary of his work. Known for his sculptural tapestries of woven aluminium and three-dimensional garments in the same medium, Dickens engagement with his chosen medium reflects his interest in the way colour, texture, pattern and iconography imbue ordinary objects with meaning and identity. 

Dickens has participated in numerous group exhibitions locally and internationally and has an ever-growing base private and institutional collectors. In 2022, he was one of the artists representing the Kenya Pavilion at the 59th Venice Bienalle. Other group and solo exhibitions include Art Dubai (2023); Mtaani, Steve Turner Gallery, Los Angeles (2021); See Here, Old Neals Auction House, Nottingham, (2018); Africa/Africa, Total Arts Courtyard Gallery, Al Quoz, Dubai, (2018); Young Guns, Circle Art Gallery, Nairobi, (2017); The Third Dimension, Circle Art Gallery, (2016); UNI-FORM MULTI-FORM, Roots Contemporary, Nairobi, (2016); Paint and Metal, National Museum in Nairobi, (2016).

Group Exhibition: Antifragile, Jul. 20 – Sept. 2 2023 @ Circle Art Gallery, Victoria Square – Riara Road.

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Opening: Thursday July 20, 2023

Venue: Circle Art Gallery, Victoria Square, Riara Rd

Dates: Until 2 September 2023

About

Each year, Circle puts on a group exhibition of some of the most exciting young artists in the region. This is a great opportunity to discover new artists, collect affordable works and support artists who may be showing in a gallery for the first time. 

Antifragile brings together work by emerging artists from Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia and Rwanda spanning a variety of media including; drawing, painting, sculpture, printmaking and photography. 

Responding to Circle’s open call, over 250 artists submitted portfolios, a sign that even in these volatile times, artists continue to forge pathways through their lived experiences to be present, to document, reflect, and also imagine otherwise.

Exhibition: ‘Immortal Objects’ by Donald Wasswa, Jun. 14 – Jul. 8 2023 @ Circle Art Gallery, Victoria Square – Riara Road.

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Opening: June 14, 2023

Venue: Circle Art Gallery, Victoria Square – Riara Road

Time: from 6 PM

Until July 8, 2023

About

Donald Wasswa (Ugandan, b. 1984)  lives and works in Entebbe, Uganda.  In this exhibition, Wasswa explores the interconnectedness between different media; sculptures, paintings and drawings with each discipline informing the other. The title, ‘Immortal Objects’, describes the cycle of how his ideas and thoughts become physical objects and how the audience then connects with and interprets the work. These reactions go on to inspire new works.

Wasswa studied Art and Design at Kyambogo University leaving in 2007. He has participated in solo and group exhibitions in Uganda and abroad, including: East African Encounters, Cromwell Place, London, 2021; Degenerative Evolution of the Living, Absa Art Gallery, Johannesburg, 2018; To Live is to Become, Afriart Gallery, Kampala, 2017; Zikunta, Kampala, 2016. In 2019 Wasswa was one of the selected artists for Ouagadougou Sculpture Biennial and showed at 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair in London. In 2022 he returned to 1-54 and exhibited at Untitled Miami Art Fair with Steve Turner Gallery. He was the 2016 recipient of the Merit Award in the Absa L’Atelier competition. Wasswa is currently based in Kampala where he is the founder/proprietor of Artpunch Studio.

Exhibition: ‘Immortal Objects’ by Donald Wasswa, Jun. 14 – Jul. 8 2023 @ Circle Art Gallery, Victoria Square – Riara Road.

by with No Comment art exhibitsevents

Opening: June 14, 2023

Venue: Circle Art Gallery, Victoria Square – Riara Road

Time: from 6 PM

Until July 8, 2023

About

Donald Wasswa (Ugandan, b. 1984)  lives and works in Entebbe, Uganda.  In this exhibition, Wasswa explores the interconnectedness between different media; sculptures, paintings and drawings with each discipline informing the other. The title, ‘Immortal Objects’, describes the cycle of how his ideas and thoughts become physical objects and how the audience then connects with and interprets the work. These reactions go on to inspire new works.

Wasswa studied Art and Design at Kyambogo University leaving in 2007. He has participated in solo and group exhibitions in Uganda and abroad, including: East African Encounters, Cromwell Place, London, 2021; Degenerative Evolution of the Living, Absa Art Gallery, Johannesburg, 2018; To Live is to Become, Afriart Gallery, Kampala, 2017; Zikunta, Kampala, 2016. In 2019 Wasswa was one of the selected artists for Ouagadougou Sculpture Biennial and showed at 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair in London. In 2022 he returned to 1-54 and exhibited at Untitled Miami Art Fair with Steve Turner Gallery. He was the 2016 recipient of the Merit Award in the Absa L’Atelier competition. Wasswa is currently based in Kampala where he is the founder/proprietor of Artpunch Studio.

Exhibition: ‘Forgive Us For Our Skins’ by Sujay Shah, Apr. 19 – May 20 2023 @ Circle Art Gallery, Victoria Square – Riara Road.

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Opening: April 19, 2023

Venue: Circle Art Gallery, Victoria Square – Riara Road

Time: from 6 PM

Until May 20, 2023

About

Raised in Kenya, Sujay Shah has experienced the intermingling of cultural ideologies, myths and histories. Shah is interested in how we can cope with colonial and cultural pasts, which are built into our surroundings.

In his recent paintings, Sujay deconstructs, satirises and critiques some of the harmful legacies of colonialism through the lens of big game trophy hunting. The presence of certain objects in Kenyan homes, country clubs and Safari lodges, such as skin rugs, animal parts and mounted animal heads serve as a haunting reminder of this violent history. 

In the depicted fictitious dioramas and still lives, acts of brutality go side by side with luxury items such as Victorian objects, silverware, candelabra, and cabinets challenging the notions of what it means to be “civilised.” Intertwining horror, humour and surrealism, the exasperated animals are subjected to various states of disrespect, further undermining and trivialising the convoluted nature of these hunts. 

Allusions are also made to early conservation practices that forcibly evicted people from their lands, recasting them as poachers, and equally absolving these hunters who treated Africa’s wilderness as theme parks. By portraying aspects of museum displays, these different moments are merged into a single image to suggest how the perception and romance of Africa, to the outside world, was fabricated, exoticized, and stereotyped. Images of which still perpetuate and haunt us today. 

Sujay Shah is currently living and working in Kenya. He graduated with a B.F.A in Painting from the Savannah College of Art and Design in 2013. After college, Sujay lived in New York, working as a studio assistant for the artists Paul Bloodgood and Anne Chu. His work has been exhibited in the US (Savannah, Georgia and New York) and France (Lacoste). His work is in the permanent collection of the Savannah College of Art and Design. In Kenya he has been in group exhibitions at the Kenya Art Fair, If Not Now at the Cave Bureau, and I Will See What I Want To See at Circle Art Agency. In 2022, he was awarded a Venice travel fellowship by Wangechi Mutu Studio.