The intriguing work at Banana hill Art Gallery

Photo/courtesy

It was an intriguing group exhibition showcasing the works of many young Kenyan artists, most mentored by the successful and energetic artist Adam Masava, founder of the Mukuru artists collective. I, especially enjoyed the works of young Kelvin Nzioka.

Nzioka paintings were painted in a style that can be called the Afro-Impasto technique: impasto is a technique of oil painting where broad-brush strokes apply thick layers of oil paint onto a canvas while the paint is still wet. This technique is used by painters across the continent. A notably example is artist Fred Abuga, whose brad strokes are more vivid and less subtle than Nzioka's work. Nzioka's paintings depicted Nairobi city scapes, with pedestrians in the foreground flanked by Nairobi's sprawling high rise buildings. These paintings are whimsical and yet sombre, as he used a wide blend of greys, and browns ina reddish hue to create a sunset city scape. When I asked Nzioka what inspired his city scape paintings, he stated that 'For me its not even the buildings that I like to portray. They're just like a body I use to tell the message'. When I asked if he was more interested in people than landscapes, he said the former was his primary focus of in his paintings.