Okello's Masques, a New Work in The Loft at One Off Gallery
GALLERY’S
EXPANSION OPENS UP NEW LINES OF THOUGHT
By
Margaretta wa Gacheru (posted 14 August 2018)
One Off
Gallery has done a brilliant thing by sacrificing its stable and making it over
into a second art space just adjacent to its original gallery at The Loft, both
of which are located in Carol Lees’ backyard.
Peter Ngugi's
Currently,
both spaces are full to overflowing with intriguing works of contemporary
Kenyan art. The Loft is filled with ‘New Works’ by One Off regulars such as
painters Anthony Okello, James Mbuthia, Peter Ngugi, Olivia Pendergast, Peter
Elungat, Naomi van Rampelberg who paints exclusively on glass, Ugandan artist
Collin Sekajugo and the marvelous metal sculptor Harrison Mburu.
But as lovely
as works in the Loft look, it was the show in the Stable that attracted the
greatest attention on the opening day of the ‘Line: the basic element’ group
exhibition.
In part that
had to do with the show having been curated by two young Kenyan artists, Thom
Ogonga and Jonathan Solanke Frazier who were well-equipped to call fellow
artists who they knew had an affinity for painting and drawing using their ‘basic
element’, the line.
In part it
was because many friends of One Off also knew they could anticipate the
unexpected that day. So expectations had to run high.
Patti Endo
Carol Lees
had given Thom and Jonathan a free hand to pick and choose whomever they wished
to showcase. Not that their selection of eleven Kenyan artists was a startling
surprise. But it was exciting to find that most of those chosen to be in the
Line show had never exhibited at One Off before.
In fact,
only Florence Wangui and Mercy Kagia had showed their artworks at One Off
before. Florence’s animated chickens, drawn in charcoal, always have
personalities of their own. And the ones she drew for the ‘Line’ exhibition
were no exception.
Florence Wangui
Mercy’s previous works
had been in the Gallery’s second ‘Nudes’ show which was held last year, and
they’d attracted broad interest (and some controversy), in part because her
paintings were the only ones in the show that featured men.
In any case,
the rest of the artists feature in the Stable were Kenyans making premier
appearances at One Off.
They
included Agnes Waruguru, David Thuku, Janice Iche, Jonathan Solanke, Longinos
Nagila, Ndeithi Kariuki, Patti Endo, Sebawali Sio and Wanjohi Maina.
It was an
eclectic group of artists whose works happened to harmonize beautifully as one
will find when you get to One Off and wander from one white-walled room to the
next.
In fact, the
artworks in the Loft have an equally harmonious effect, only in different hues,
textures and techniques. For instance, there are more oil paintings in the
original gallery, more familiar imagery such as Okello’s monumental masks,
Ngugi’s curious street people and Olivia’s elegant auburn tree-scape.
Meanwhile,
the works in the Stable are full of surprises. For instances, Longinos’s 3-D
optical illusory art is unlike anything we’ve seen him create before. Ndeithi’s
metallic, musical fingers are also exceptional silhouettes of sound. And Agnes’s
cotton tapestry is just as refreshing as (albeit quite different from) the
textile art of the Canadian artist, Lisa Milroy who’d shown at One Off several
months before.
Ndeithi kariuki
So there’s a
lot to see at One Off this month. The artworks of both the gallery ‘regulars’
and the newcomers to the Rosslyn gallery are on hand to view. In all, there’s
tremendous variety to see, so August is a good time to get to the Gallery.
Incidentally,
in the coming weeks we can look forward to Carol Lees setting up another art
outpost in the Rosslyn Riviera Mall, just down the road from One Off.
No comments:
Post a Comment