Noted Kenyan Artist Mukabi To Exhibit And Lecture

Kenya Thu 15-11-2007

Noted Kenyan Artist Mukabi To Exhibit And Lecture
Courtesy of The University of Kentucky News

The University of Kentucky Department of Art has invited to campus for the seventh year a leading Kenyan artist through the UK Kenyan Artist-in-Residence program funded by the Ruth Hunt Wood Foundation Inc. Patrick Mukabi, one of Kenya's most talented artists, will present a solo exhibition of his work and deliver a public lecture on his art this week.

"Patrick Mukabi: Kenyan Artist in Residence" opens Nov. 15, at the Tuska Center for Contemporary Art, located in the UK Fine Arts Building on Rose Street. Mukabi's free public lecture follows Nov. 16.

An opening reception will be held in honor of Mukabi and his exhibit from 5 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 15, at the Tuska Center for Contemporary Art. The reception and exhibit, which runs through Dec. 5, are free and open to the public.

Mukabi's free public lecture on Friday is part of the UK Department of Art 2007-08 Visiting Artists and Scholars Series. The artist's lecture will discuss his work in more detail and will be followed by a question and answer session. The public lecture begins at noon Friday, Nov. 16, in room 118 White Hall Classroom Building.

Mukabi, a native of Nairobi, is known in his country and internationally for his work as a painter and graphic artist. Much of his work focuses on African women, particularly women found in the bustling African markets. Mukabi also earned considerable praise in his home country for his work on the Nairobi billboard project, which was based in a busy central business district.

The project called for Mukabi and another artist to create paintings each night to be viewed the next day based on issues commenting either positively or negatively on society. Mukabi's work has been exhibited outside Kenya in England, Egypt, the Netherlands, Uganda, South Africa and Tanzania. The Tuska Center exhibition marks the artist's debut in the U.S.

Mukabi has taken part in numerous art workshops over the years. His studies include workshops in portraiture and nude drawing at the GoDown Arts Centre, the Nairobi National Museum, as well as workshops in aquatinting, acid and acetate etching, and woodcuts through the Kuona Trust, a not-for-profit organization for contemporary visual art in Kenya and East Africa that periodically presents technical workshops to help new artists develop their latent skills.

Mukabi has recently started experimenting with installation, sound and moving image. His video works confront the prescribed representation of Africa, often combining references to mass media and urban culture with more personal narratives. This work challenges the viewer's attempts at framing art with certainty into former static and stereotyped colonial and neo-colonial interpretations of art from the continent.

Mukabi arrived in the Bluegrass in August, and has maintained a full calendar while at UK. During his residence, he has taught art classes and workshops, presented lectures on his work and techniques, and produced works for the UK exhibition.

While in the U.S, Mukabi also traveled to Somerset Community College (SCC) and Southeastern Louisiana University for campus residencies in October. In Somerset, he conducted workshops with SCC drawing and painting students, presented an art forum at SCC's McCreary Campus, and taught additional workshops at Somerset High School.

Before the end of Mukabi's residence here, he will complete one last task -- creating the artwork for the 2008 Kenyan Artist in Residence recruitment poster that will be distributed to art galleries, art schools and museums in Kenya.

The UK Department of Art assists the Ruth Hunt Wood Foundation in making the Kenyan Artist-in-Residence program a reality. The foundation was created by UK alumna Ruth Hunt Wood of Lexington. Wood's work establishing and promoting the program has made the appointment a prestigious honor among Kenyan artists.

The foundation, which sends representatives to Kenya every spring to interview candidates, covers the artist’s travel and a stipend for the visit to Kentucky. The Department of Art supplies the artist with boarding, at New North Residence Hall, and studio space.

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