Absolut Trash
A mosaic of tastes and influences Absolut Art, Kuona Trust and UP celebrate the use of ordinary materials which, when combined with found items, create extra-ordinary and timeless pieces. The Absolut Art Transformation will answer the question ‘what do you get when you mix a bunch of talented artists with a pile of unwanted trash?” A legendary exhibition.
How Does It Work? In the week leading up to the competition, five phenomenal artists - sculptor and painter Lionel Garang, glass master Tonney Mugo, painter Alex Njoroge, metal sculptor Meshak Oiro, mixed-media artist Andrew Mwini and the multi-talented Wambui Kamiru - will begin creating their piece that will be completed on the 20th September at Kuona Trust where the exciting Absolut Art Transformation will begin at 3:00 p.m.
The audience will watch the artists create their pieces which must be completed by 7:00 p.m. The judges will have an hour to consult and announce the winner. The winner will be chosen based on the creativity, originality, artistic skill, bold innovation of the work. All the money collected from entrance fees shall go towards the Faraja Foundation Art project that is transforming the walls of the industrial area remand prison with murals.
Here’s a little overview of what to expect from this bunch of talented artists:
Alex Andrew Njoroge is a self- taught artist who holds a bachelor of commerce degree from the University of Nairobi. His painting career started in 2006 immediately after high school. He employs a dotted technique in his work derived from his inspiration of Carl Sagan’s poem ‘pale blue dot’. He has exhibited his works in various joint exhibitions at the museums of Kenya, Banana Hill Art Gallery and Trio Estate in a gallery opening.
Lionel Garang is Kenyan with Sudanese roots. His art journey began by painting graffiti on public service vehicles in Nairobi. He then moved on to painting on canvas using acrylic paints, sculpting and moulding with clay and is currently working on a series of masks using fiber mart, resin, wood, metal and empty spray cans and other found objects.
Meshack Oiro is one of the leading sculptural artists in Kenya specializing with wood and metal. His work has been featured in the Kenya Arts Diary, and he holds a Higher Diploma in Fine Art (Sculpting major) from Buruburu Institute of Fine Arts where he won Best Male Artist – Sculpting Section. Meshack draws his inspiration from simplicity and aims to make art accessible to his audience.
Tonney began his art journey as a painter and later moved to working with glass. He applies a different approach to glass work focussing less on the technique and more on the ideas. To that effect,Tonney conducted his first solo exhibition at Kuona Trust last year titled Beyond stereotypes which aimed at demystifying misconceptions about the use of glass as a medium in art.
Andrew is a trained graphic designer currently transitioning from graphic design into what he considers real art. His art work is a journey in its initial stages and his mental strugggles and the need to establish himself as a reputable artist is a major part of his work. Andrew has a degree in professional studies but feels that commercial graphic design did not offer him the opportunity to be himself. As a bipolar artist he intends to comment about his condition in his work.
Wambui Kamiru is an installation, abstract, painter artist. Apart from installations like Harambee63 shown both in Kenya and South Africa, Wambui also paints about her observations on life, politics and love; topics of great passion. A mixed media artist, her main medium is acrylic on canvas with newspaper print, with recent pieces incorporating copper wire.
The Absolut Art Transformation is taking place on 20th September from 3:00 p.m. until late. Entry is KES 200 at Kuona Trust
