By Margaretta wa Gacheru (posted 15 July 2019)
Kenya art
came alive last weekend at the Railway Museum where the Graffiti artists group
BSQ (aka ‘Bomb Squad)’ opened their first ‘Fine Art Exhibition’ with an interactive
public art invitation.
Based just
behind the Museum in and outside one of the train car that they have
transformed into a studio cum art gallery, the three BSQ artists, invited
members of the public to not just ‘leave their mark’ on the outside of their
train car but to actually participate in creating a mural using all the same
art tools that BSQ do.
“We invited
them to try using everything from paint [and brush] to spray paint and air
brush on Saturday morning,” says Brian “Msale” Musasia, one of the BSQ trio.
The other two are Kenneth ‘K-Mist4’ Otieno and Bebetu (‘Thufu B’) Ochieng.
“We’ll
invite the public again to leave their mark on the BSQ car at the closing of
our show on August 3rd,” adds Msale who is also exhibiting his work inside
the train car together with Paul ‘Gicci’ Gichia.
Inviting us
to climb up into their car (which has been beautifully spray painted by BSQ and
other graffiti artists), Msale and Gicci show us around the studio-gallery
which is covered literally from floor to ceiling with amazing graffiti art.
But all that
graffiti is separate from the air-brush art that Msale and Gicci have created
on canvas. “We wanted to show how graffiti art can be transformed into fine
art,” says Msale whose calligraphic artworks on canvas also cover a big chunk
of the studio’s ceiling.
“I used a
brush to paint those [calligraphic pieces],” he adds as he shows us how an air-brush
works compared to both a simple paint brush and a can of spray paint.
The other
two BSQ artists, K-Mist and Bebetu still stick with spray paint as one will see
as you come check out the Railway wall that leads from the main gate down to
the actual Museum. There you will see a wonderfully rich array of graffiti art
which has been spray-painted mainly by the BSQ trio, but also by graffiti
artists like Swift Elegwa, Kerosh Kiruri, Stickky Muriithi, Chela Chewron and
Eljah Mutua.
All of these
artists have spent time at the Dust Depo Art Studio with Patrick Mukabi who
mentored most of them as they developed their knowledge and skills working
closely with the mild-mannered Master that Mukabi is known to be.
Paul Githia
is still based at Dust Depo, but as both he and Msale like the air-brush, they
decided to hang a proper art exhibition. ‘Gicci’ says he prefers the air-brush
because it allows him to exercise more control over the creative process.
“It’s a
technique that allows one to give more clarity of detail to their art,” adds
Msale who actually graduated in fine art from Kenyatta University’s fine art
department.
Msale is
part of the reason KU art students have started coming to the BSQ studio to
complete their three-month attachments. Currently, there are four KU students being
mentored by the trio and getting exposed to a much wider range of arts
activities going on in Nairobi than students can easily see from the confines
of KU.
“It’s partly
for them that we decided to hold this Fine Art exhibition,” confesses Msale.
“We have their sketches, as well as our own, pinned up outside the train for
the public to see. That way, if someone likes a sketch, they can either buy it
on the spot or ask for a specific artist to do a commission for them.”
Nairobi’s graffiti
art scene is growing fast, having been popularized by street artists like
Bankslave, Swift and many others. Some say it exploded thanks to a British
Council initiative several years back when BC invited artists to come create
murals on their many walls.
The graffiti
art movement was also nurtured at the GoDown Art Centre where everyone from
Michael Jackson, Miriam Makeba and Lupita Nyong’o were spray-painted by
Bankslave, Uhuru B, Swift and others.
Then a
couple of years ago, the Railway Museum agreed to cooperate with Kenyan
artists, spurred on by Patrick Mukabi who’d moved next door to the Museum and
started up Dust Depo. “Street Diaries 1 and 2” were the first public
exhibitions to elicit an overwhelming response from both aspiring and seasoned
artists who covered the quarter-mile of wall with amazing graffiti art. And
since then, a myriad of Kenyan youth has taken up graffiti art.
Msale Masasia of BSQ
Msale Masasia of BSQ
Nice blog and amaing graffiti but my personal favourite grafiti artist is Professional Graffiti Artist.He was amazing artworks related to modern, contemporary, street, graffiti art.
ReplyDeleteSamurai Graffiti Exterior Mural