It's
been a while since I last did an exhibition and had (temporarily) forgotten
some of the (not so pleasant) questions I have to deal with when put on the
spot. Making (what you want or what you
perceive as) art is easy (for most artists). It's fun. Almost playful. I am yet to meet an artist who doesn't enjoy his
practice. Every artist loves his job. Every moment of it (except shopping). What most find challenging is probably writing up
a coherent artist statement that is relevant to their practice.
Having
gone through the hard part of being an artist; early mornings, shopping sprees
at Sciencescope, late nights in seedy
joints, many interrupted painting sessions, selection of work that felt
cohesive, getting them into the space & letting everyone know the mischief we were up to, I guess I
thought the opening would be spent smiling, accepting compliments and topping
up my beer mug.
I was wrong!
First,
I realized that my artist statement was not
adequate! It was too short. My partners in crime (aka the artists), know me. They are part of my practice. They
therefore understand my work; content & philosophy. So, no need of having
long winded explanations. A few people are okay with seeing the work and being
pointed the direction of the artist from a distance. This is okay.
Some
want a piece of you or expect you to bare
it all. From the cliché "What
inspires you?" to the technical process, to how long it takes and how you intend to change the world by
painting drinking couples. The - why you do what you do. It’s almost a bad way of asking you to
interpret your artist statement or simplify the exhibition write up.
Most
of these conversations are good. Very good. They make you see your work in way
you'd never thought. For once, all the artsy
vocabulary - context, threshold,
interrogation, commentary, identity, inquisition, process ... is thrown out
of the window and you interact with your audience in a language they
understand. On their terms!
Most
people are of course polite. And curious. Once they understand where you're
coming from, they are like they've known you forever. However, a couple of
words keep coming up. Words whose intentions are good in every way (I think).
Words supposed to be compliments but those I find rather abstract. If it were
my call, they are words I'd ban from the
art lexicon! Words like…
 |
| Selection of Ogonga Thom's paintings on show. |
Amazing! (causing great surprise or sudden wonder)
How can a painting be amazing? Back
in my primary school, there was this big girl called Grace. She was so strong
she'd beat up even the strongest boy. We called her Amazing Grace (I hope she
doesn't read this lest I get in trouble). So when you say a painting is
amazing, I see Grace! Or try
envisioning a painting that causes me sudden wonder!
Someone
shouted ‘cool’ from behind me and on inquiry was told that Magical Kenya by Michael Soi was a ‘nice’ (definition - pleasing;
agreeable; delightful; amiably pleasant; kind). I laughed and gave my
definition of cool (temperature) and
nice (weather) and the person thought
I was too old fashioned for my 'tender'
age. They gave me an English lesson and I agreed that maybe the painting was
agreeable. Or just delightful.
 |
| Paintings by Michael Soi |
An
adjective like beautiful should never find its way into an art space. Unless
of course it’s being used to describe the model in the artist's studio. Terming
a painting beautiful is (almost) an
insult to the artist! I am yet to meet an artist whose intended final artwork
is a beautiful artwork. We use beautiful models, bright colours that are
visually appealing, precious metals but that does not mean the final artwork is
necessarily beautiful. As much as beauty is visual, it should be confined to vanity - a beautiful car, house, lass... Mona Lisa, the lady who sat for Leonardo of Vinci was very beautiful. The painting titled Mona Lisa is breathtaking!
Leonardo's skill is astonishing.
Words
like Interesting, Awesome... are often abused by people
who dislike your work but feel it's
polite to compliment the you. We don't need flattery, we need your truthful
opinion. And if you can't be honest, please
Shut Up! Honesty is the best policy but silence is always a better
substitute. Just as girls see through us when we pretend to like their fake
hair, artists laugh at you when you say their work is nice, awesome or pretty.
So
many words can be used to describe an artwork. My English is limited but in my
limitless Sheng, it could be painting
kali, noma, zii, imechapa. Or
Installation mwenda. Maybe sculpture ya uduu! Or picha imetokelezea. Perfomance haijanibamba!
So next time, avoid a faux pas and please
use words like impressive, radical, captivating, sexy, forceful, boring, vivid,
harrowing, moving, breathtaking, hilarious, dramatic, shocking, provocative, but
not NICE!
