Words that Should be Banned from Art Lingua

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!

Management (No Longer) Reserves The Right of Admission

When "Gentleman's Club" opens on Sunday 24th June, it will not only be just another show but a celebration of how far we've come. In terms of technical ability, intellectual capacity and freedom of publicly showing work that was unexhibitable just a couple of years ago.

For most artists, compiling a decent body of work is very fulfilling. Selling is nice (as it helps sort out our material obligations) but getting to show it in a good exhibition is ultimate. Nothing beats the feeling of having your peers in a space -  conventional or otherwise as your work takes centre stage accompanied by the clinking of wine glasses, smell of fresh samosas + spring rolls, a handful of red dots next to the art on show and (semi) intelligent conversations as people gather to celebrate your hard work... or laziness. That to most artists is probably the one and only objective critic session they'll ever have (of course before the brain + alcohol become buddies).

Over the years, our art scene has been labelled as conservative. Meaning we have been afraid. So afraid of what we've called taboo subjects - politics, nudity, religion, sexuality... and anything we put in the box labelled UnAfrican! This translates to some artworks never getting to see the light of day for what are deemed 'cultural reasons'. A polite way of saying your work makes certain people uncomfortable.

You see, artists are... Strange! (for lack of a better word). We live in the same city, go to the same schools, shop in the same stores, read the same books, agree on most things arty but are very individual in our creations. The thing that sets us apart is the one we call inspiration.

Some people are inspired by nature, others religion, others politics, maybe love or fashion or just women. Others seek inspiration in the night.

Spaces, depending on their custodians, have had their fair share of challenges in dealing with all the diverse subjects that come out of artist studios making them sometimes go for the easiest option politically. Censorship.

Not sure who has been a culprit or victim before my time but a handful of times I've been witness and victim.

First was in the year 2001; Patrick Mukabi, Peter Klashorst and myself had worked long & hard to put up what to us was supposed to be a blockbuster show at the East African Contemporary Gallery (Nairobi Museum). All went well till the works got into the space. Curated by Gert Meijerink of the Amsterdam Institute of Painting, the show was titled "Nairobi Day & Night Club" and was a black & white interpretation of the title. Panye had beautiful paintings of graceful women during the day. Klas had very good ones of the not so good people of the night. I had the in between.

Word spread quickly and the management decided to edit the show and remove the culturally offensive work. Protests, blackmails and compromises later, we had a show. Not as blockbuster as we'd have loved but among the few conceptualized shows at the Nairobi Museum.

Come 2005, an artist and dealer got together a posse of artists and put up a show of nude works at Le Rustique restaurant. It was a big hit and someone thought it a good idea to move it to Karen. The works were put up in a high end restaurant till someone called the cops to complain about pornographic stuff in their club.

Some of the paintings were arrested! Not sure what the charge sheet read or how they left the cop shop but knowing Kenya, someone gave and another received. The show ended prematurely!

More recently, Michael Soi aka the Snakedoctor was to have a show whose content was the going ons in the mushrooming Nairobi strip clubs. He couldn't show the work as the 'expected audience' would be offended. I was personally offended as it was censoring within a creative space. Soi has not been so lucky. He booked and confirmed a show in an upmarket pub & restaurant. The owner soon discovered he intended to show politically motivated paintings and as fate would have it, the show never took off as a regular patron was a big man.

Fast forward and coming Sunday is the opening of the "The Gentleman's Club."

It is a juxtaposition of the two artists’ view of Nairobi with a bias toward the night. Both have been accused of degrading women by portraying them negatively and supporting the vices that come with the still of the night.

Whether they do or not we'll never know (or is irrelevant for now). One thing however is that what happens in Nairobi does happen. Art imitates life. The Nairobi night is perceived as dangerous, heathen, black, ugly & full of sin - gambling, crime, prostitution, bar brawls etc.

Amid all the madness, there is happiness/fun. It is when you enjoy your favourite dinners. When your spouse, or brother or sister is earning their daily bread (honestly). When you're running across town to catch those annoying night flights. When in a bus heading to the village. Or when you make a trip to The Gentleman's Club! At such times there's alot to see! Some of us close our eyes because what we see is not pretty. But some open them wider, and stare! Because they know they shall reference those moments in their work. When making their art.

Those that closed their eyes (and they that were seen) will be upset by the artworks generated from those moments. They will do all in their power to stop the work from being seen. They shall burry their heads in the sand and believe that these things did not happen. But come morning, they shall replay these nightly topics discussed graphically on their home radios and car stereos, truly enjoying these taboo subjects.

Maybe the power of a picture (read painting) is so overwhelming and plays with our conscience hence the resistance. We're okay with having strip club adverts in our daily newspapers and at bus stops (high density public platforms) but it's not okay for artists to exhibit works inspired by this culture in (semi) public spaces. Don't know why, but one thing is for sure, come Sunday, for the first time artists have a rare chance of going all out - all guns blazing & bare knuckled to show their studio output without being worried about censorship & terms like sensitive audiences, culturally offensive blah blah blah! And it’ all for arts sake.

It's not often that artists are ‘Free To Decide’ what to show as someone else's opinion carries the day. So am really looking forward to the vernissage on Sunday. Cold beer on the Snakedoctor if you can find your way to One Off Contemporary Art Gallery #16 Rosslyn Lone Tree Nairobi.

Built on Quicksand, Sustained by Hype

I never met Ruth Schaffner!

I must also admit my work has never found its way into Gallery Watatu with the exception of it passing through for framing by Owino - the late resident framer, en route to other spaces for exhibitions. Most of the (not so) young artists probably sail the same boat as I in that they also have never exhibited there; whether it’s by choice or by being locked out is a story for another day! From Kyalo, Mukabi, Michael Soi, Jimmah Kimani, Peterson Kamwathi, Beatrice Wanjiku, Anthony Okello, Peter Walala, Jimmy Ogonga... a large percentage of those referred to as 2nd generation Kenyan artists.

So, when last week a local daily carried the story of the “major auction and final closure" not many tears were shed! It was comparable to this week when 2 politicians died and the political class are busy turning well known villains into instant heroes.

Flashback... A little over 40 years ago three artistic friends -Jony Waite, Robin Anderson and David Hart - created a privately-owned space they named "Watatu" - Swahili for 3 people. It is not very clear (or well documented) when it changed hands but the new owner became Ruth Schaffner, a German-born American collector of post-war art.

With Ruth at the helm, Watatu was an instant 'hit' and was home of what was loosely referred to as créme de la créme of indigenous Kenyan (read naive) art. Artists like Jak Katarikawe, Ancent Soi, Sane + Eunice Wadu, Wanyu Brush, Elijah Ooko, Kivuthi Mbuno, Samuel + Jackson Wanjau & Chain Muhandi among others soon became overnight celebrities.

One thing everyone agrees with is that Ruth Schaffner was an art dealer extraordinaire!

Urban legend has it that artist villages, Ngecha and Banana Hill sprouted as a result of Ruth's patronage. Young and ambitious guys out of college would walk into the gallery, head held high armed with a diploma/degree and they would leave crestfallen as they'd be told, "They weren't good enough unless they painted like Sane, or Brush, or Muhandi..."

The strong and maybe too proud, never came back and carried on with their practice minus Watatu. The weak, tried to be like Sane! like Meek Gichugu... and even got cool names to boot!

People 'got rich' and for once Kenyan art 'was on the world map' and then it happened in 1996!

Ruth Schaffner died! There was pandemonium in the art scene. Grown men cried! They did not sob. They wailed.

This was around the same time Kuona Trust and One Off Gallery were starting and all those who never got into Watatu were having alternative spaces to show (and sell). For most of us, Watatu was never an option. It simply wasn't there. For most, the connection was Owino, the framer.

Fast forward and we heard rumours of watatu being broke and some staff hawking artworks to make ends meet but that was private property, and we weren't supposed to trespass!

Then this year - I guess shit hit the fan! Watatu crumbled, and is now falling.

That Watatu is obsolete and going under was never the issue. It was HOW this was happening that most had a problem with. An auction had allegedly taken place and another one was scheduled yet no information was forthcoming. It felt like someone was keen to tie up a good deal in a hush. Fate had it that through social media, information leaked and was shared.

On the day of the second auction, two dozen people in the arts were there, some to claim what was rightfully theirs, some for curiosity, maybe a handful for moral support, some to buy expensive work cheaply and some to just heckle. The gods of creativity got us a reprieve and the auction was postponed to 16th June.

We have accepted that closure is inevitable but does it really matter?

Our beloved RaMoMa 'died' recently. We never mourned and moved on like it never was. Today, Watatu is in High Dependency Unit and we're already shopping for a coffin! A glimpse at www.gallerywatatu.com gives an indicator on who the gallery represented. You won't find the names of the young, prolific award winning Kenyan artists shifting the dynamics of the local art scene. Why? We may never know.

Maybe, before we get all emotional and use words like History, Heritage etcetera, we should define the relationship we had with Watatu, with the institution, with they that ran (down) the space. And when I personally do that, I can say with my head held high that, "I'm not gonna lack sleep over Gallery Watatu's closure."

We have other art spaces/institutions that have gone the same way. We get all mushy when they are in the red then amnesia creeps in immediately they're unable to stay afloat. Is it lack of strategy? Are our institutions too elite? Could it be the personnel? Or is it that we don't support each other? Maybe one day we'll find out. Maybe.

I love quoting strange artists that I meet and a wise one summed it up well... "The old order empires built on quicksand and sustained by hype, are finally crumbling.”

And as this happens, another one inhales on his ciggy, reflects, and as he exhales, with the smoke comes the words, "Nothing, I feel absolutely nothing."

Art Appreciation

Hmmmm… It’s been a while!

We all pretend or assume we know/understand what art is. Maybe we know, maybe we don’t (but that’s a story for another day). When we add the word “appreciation” to our understanding of art, it becomes a totally different ball game.

Art Appreciation is/may be the knowledge and understanding of the qualities that identify all art. Huh! Maybe this is just a polite way of saying art appreciation is one’s ability to withstand art without pretence, peer pressure, fear or favour. This translates to being able to look at artworks and form your own independent opinions about them without necessarily referencing the artist. I think.

However, rather unfortunately with the current trends, art appreciation has become another cliché phrase. It’s the case of nobody gives a damn. Yet we pretend we do!

In the small pond we call Nairobi, art is big business! I know you’re wondering, “How?”

Outside production, 95ish% of art is NGO based. This is big business you know. Most of these institutions have impressive constitutions/missions/visions etc and among them is “improving art appreciation locally” this is loosely referred to as audience development in donor rhetoric.

Sounds noble I guess but sometimes it’s not the ‘Whats?’ that matter, it’s the ‘Hows?’

I love (some) NGOs with The Kenya Red Cross being my favorite. Maybe it’s because I find it being result oriented. However, most of these art based NGOs aka not-for-profit institutions are report-based loosely translating to, “What’s in the report at the end of the year is actually more important (for them) than what actually happened during the year.” Shame.

How do you encourage art appreciation or develop an audience? Everyone working in the arts in Kenya has an answer to this and a great formula on paper to boot. However, that’s exactly where it stops! Strange it is if your job is to develop audiences yet you’re never in the audience yourself at any time of your work. There’s a gig in Nairobi almost bi-weekly. That’s pretty good for our small pond. The audience is almost always the same - the participating artists, two journalists (Frank Whalley + Margaretta Wa Gacheru), two dozen art appreciators, artists and their offspring.

Conveniently absent day in, day out are those mandated with running our art scene! Those that teach our kids (for years in university) how to be artists, those that sit in the ministry (& department of culture), they that are supposed to watch over my practice, they that are supposed to enlighten us and make us appreciate art more, they that we trust with building our audience.

These are not just a handful of people! We’re talking hundreds! A minister here, a couple of assistants, some Permanent Secretary… a whole department in charge of visual arts. Add to these all the cultural managers of all the institutions set up to support and raise the profile of visual arts, then to these add the new kids on the block – Curators.

The latest trend is what practicing artists have christened the Seminar Contemporary Platforms - where “important people in the arts” gather and talk about art. I heard from a wise artist that it’s probably part of the Kenyan Vision 2030 – I believed her.

How do you stop art from seeming cool and elitist during seminars and boardroom tête-à-têtes while allowing it to flourish in its real world? The artists’ studios, the galleries, exhibitions etc. Maybe am using so many words to ask, “When will we see all these art technocrats appear at an art event? Where it’s not about talking while drinking mineral water and making notes on branded five star hotel notepads but appreciating art while having a beer or blended scotch! Where art is visual? Not verbal”

How this rhetoric trickles down to the mainstream practice remains to be seen/felt.

My take is that it would be very difficult to convince your mechanic, or my bartender, or the house help to attend an art event or to try having a conversation with an artwork if you, the person living off art(ists) seems clueless or uninterested in doing the same.

Maybe we should be trying to convince ourselves to be part of the audience. Just maybe.

Public Art

I must admit I have trouble putting a definition that I truly believe in to some of these artsy phrases. Public Art aka Art in public (and semi public) spaces is one very ambiguous statement in that you put together two words that would individually challenge any above average linguist especially when put in an artistic context.

Every time my English is challenged, I run to Wikipedia… according to them, the term public art properly refers to works of art in any media that have been planned and executed with the specific intention of being sited or staged in the physical public domain, usually outside and accessible to all.

Where I come from (read Nairobi), any ‘strange looking thing’ in any open space or next to a building is loosely tucked in a box labeled public art!

Historically public art was in the form of monuments and memorials with artists like Michelangelo and Gian Lorenzo Bernini being commissioned to create works that are still breathtaking centuries later. Recently however, it has become more conceptual with artists interpreting cultures, attitudes and lifestyles of the people in relation to the space coming up with interventions that are simply, spot on! (for lack of a better adjective)

In my index, among the most successful works in this category is the Charging Bull (also referred to as the Wall Street Bull or the Bowling Green Bull), the 3.2 ton bronze sculpture by Arturo Di Modica that stands in Bowling Green Park near Wall Street in Manhattan, New York City. The oversize sculpture depicts a bull, the symbol of aggressive financial optimism and prosperity, leaning back on its haunches and with its head lowered as if ready to charge. The sculpture is both a popular tourist destination which draws thousands of people a day, as well as "one of the most iconic images of New York.

the wall street bull

Also is Christ the Redeemer (constructed between 1922 and 1931), a statue of Jesus Christ in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; considered the largest Art Deco statue in the world. It is 39.6 metres tall and 30 metres wide. It weighs 635 tonnes and is located at the peak of the 700-metre Corcovado mountain in the Tijuca Forest National Park overlooking the city. A symbol of Brazilian Christianity, the statue has become an icon for Rio de Janeiro and Brazil. It is made of reinforced concrete and soapstone. It is now a part of the new Seven Wonders of the World.

Christ the Redeemer watching over Rio.

Back home?! Hmmmm! When monuments were considered public art, we had a few. Uhuru Gardens, Nyayo Monument... but artistically, we still lag behind. Way behind. By the turn of the millennium, Nairobi got a handful of public sculptures thanks to Kuona Trust’s International Artists Residency Programme. Jeevanjee Gardens in downtown Nairobi has sculptures by Kenyans Edward ‘Masakhalia’ Bulima (Portrait of Jeevanjee) & Morris Foit (Birth in the Garden) and Nitaya Ueareeworakul (Thailand).

The Nairobi museum also benefitted from hosting Kuona (1995-2003). Sculptures by Ugandans Francis Nnagenda, Kizito Maria Kasule, Kenyan Jackson Wanjau and Japanese artist Yukinori Yamamura makes it some form of mini sculpture park. Omega Ludenyi’s ‘Tree of Life’ also sits at the Sarit Centre car park.

However, we have no public artwork that is uniquely Kenyan or Nairobian! The space custodians – City Council of Nairobi have erected ‘things’ at the major roundabouts and the government through Kenyatta University is busy erecting monuments to ‘honour our heroes.’ First Dedan Kimathi and recently Tom Mboya (Ironically, history suggests both were terminated by the government).

Dedan Kimathi (l) & Tom Mboya

Most people admit that the government finding money to commission public art is a good move. Me too! However, those that sit down to decide the What? Why? Where?… need to style up! And pretty fast! What we’ve seen coming up recently is a big joke! The artist’s technical ability may not be in question, but the content is. If this is not checked, Nairobi will end up being a city where ‘freedom fighters’ cast in bronze stand high up on 15 foot pedestals looking down at us mere mortals.

Sculptures at Nairobi Museum (r) Francis Nnagenda's Mother & Child

The Nairobi Museum is not doing very well either. A sculpture by Jackson Wanjau (Kenyan sculptor extraordinaire) is tucked at a very bad place - literally between a rock and a very hard place! This happens while prime space along the main entrance is reserved to some sculpture that is… weak (I tried really hard not use the word ‘bad’). In terms of material used, and how it’s put together. The Achilles Heel of public art is that it should resonate with the public. Those who interact with the space. Every time I go to the museum, I don’t feel that piece. Neither do my friends. Nor my family. I wonder who does?!

The reason every Nairobian has been making a pilgrimage to the Vulture Graffiti in downtown Nairobi is simple. For the first time in a long while, someone has given them what they have longed for in terms of art in a (not so) public space.

Nairobi is starved of public art for two reasons; Money and bureaucracy at the council offices. But for anyone who’s overcome these challenges and is hitting the road to create another artwork in public (or semi public), please don’t give us another ‘freedom fighter on a pedestal'… and whatever it is, make it coherent and well thought of.