The Art Hedger, “the accidental, intuitive collector, who over decades of speaking with artists…,” catches up with Issa Sylla, who was in Kenya. He encourages Issa to check out the local art scene.
In Part II of a Sense of place, Issa dives deeper into the vibrant, thriving, art community. He meets master teacher Patrick Mukabi. He interacts with Nedia Were and gets an insider view of the artist’s voice and the viewer’s interpretation and influence on art making.
About the Guest Author
Born in Guinea, Issa Sylla immigrated to the United States 20 years ago. He is currently pursuing a master’s degrees in Business Administration and Health Policy at the University of Virginia, Darden School of Business and Stanford University, respectively. He is interested in exploring the intersection of health economics, policy, and outcomes.
Part II, THE MASTER: A Sense of Place
Patrick’s studio was located in a gated community that was the home of several other artists. The studio itself sat at the end of a grassy field, and because of the rain that day, I had to sneak around a back-alley path, tippy-toeing around muddy puddles. There were two floors, each consisting of only a single room that opened towards the field, almost like a slim two-story house with a football pitch for a front yard. Entering the first floor, I met Patrick and another of his students, Solomon. We went upstairs and met another of Patrick’s students, Jimmy, whose works were also amazing. As it turns out, Patrick’s studio was a coworking space for his students; Very few of his own works were housed in the two rooms. Jimmy stepped out, then Patrick and I sat 6 feet apart, facing each other as though an interview was scheduled. As someone who mentored and trained young artists, he was the perfect person to ask about the evolution of art. Specifically, I was keen on hearing his thoughts on what constitutes art, who or what can be creative, and who or what can create art.
As an engineer at IBM, I was used to building models to perform tasks such as predicting and classifying clinical events. On my first day, my manager clarified to me that AI meant “Augmented Intelligence” - all to mean our goal in innovating AI models was to augment and support the capabilities of healthcare workers and researchers, not to replace them. While not perfect, healthcare has more clearly defined metrics of quality and success, and so I was curious as to how AI, mathematical models, will influence art, a field that is more subjective.
Patrick and I spoke about artificial intelligence innovations that were trained to generate music instrumentals and more recently to even paint. I rationalized that, given millions of paintings, computers today have the computational capacity to digest and draw millions of relationships that the human brain simply cannot, enabling machines to create at significantly faster rates. He explained that artists, like many others working in industries that are susceptible to disruption by technology, would have to adapt. If AI could produce art, it could also be harnessed to stretch the creative bounds of artists. He was coaching artists to leverage technology, especially given the circumstances of the pandemic and having limited access to in-person galleries and showcases. He was working on building a support system for artists there through providing a space and direct guidance.
With such coaching and mentorship, it is no wonder members of Patrick Mukabi’s art community produce striking, vibrant contemporary art works such as the two below by Jimmy Kitheka (Jimmy Kitheka | Kenya - Akka Project Dubai - Venezia | Contemporary Art Gallery | Focused on African Art) and Angela Wambui.
“Day Job” Jimmy Kitheka x Allan ‘Think’ Kioka collaboration Untitled, Angela Wambui
Jimmy Kitheka, “Street Shadows” 2021 Jimmy Kitheka, “Vintage Nyayo Bus (Big Green Shadows)” 2021
Patrick Mukabi
Patrick Mukabi, known to his peers as Panye, is plausibly Kenya’s foremost multi-talented visual artist. He is globally acclaimed in the art world and has been to over 23 countries exhibiting and teaching for over two decades now.
For those who have thronged of the Java coffee shops that dot Nairobi’s restaurant scene, then Mukabi’s work is no stranger. His distinct depiction of African women; voluptuous, self-assured, determined and always clad in Kangas/Lesos, has not only been his muse, but also his trademark. Mukabi has been teaching art classes to kids for as long as he can remember. Unlike the many who have come before and after him, he has taken the road less travelled. He is painting his legacy in the hearts of a new generation of visual artists at his Dust Depo Art studio.
- Patrick Mukabi Painting Legacy with a New Generation, NJERI WANGARI
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=Patrick+Mukabi&qpvt=Patrick+Mukabi&FORM=VDRE
Patrick Mukabi: A Mentor to African Art for over 20 Years - YouTube
“My Art is my voice ”
Nedia Were’s Voice
Patrick introduced Nedia Were and left us alone as though he had just reconnected two long lost friends. The first painting I saw was the below, “Window of Opportunity”. I just stood there staring for a couple of seconds before acknowledging Nedia. With a big smile that scrunched his eyes, he greeted “What do you think?”. “It’s beautiful!” I responded.
Unfinished “Window of Opportunity”, Nedia Were
https://nedia-were.jimdosite.com
We immediately turned to the piece, rolled up our sleeves to do the work of unpacking our thoughts, which took a quick turn towards (Sub Saharan) African politics and social issues and his inspirations. The newspapers captured the many issues. Oppressed by the corruption, the figure is wrapped head to toe in newspapers with headlines such as “Stop being Chess, Become A Player,” “Wait for What…? And “If Opportunity doesn’t know…Knock, Build…The Door.” We spoke on and on about Kenyan society, the widespread corruption that has plagued countries throughout Africa, the limited opportunities for youths (stifling), the exacerbating effects of COVID19. We spoke about hope as a product of time, the only force capable of bringing about change. The piece indirectly guided us through two hours of conversation. I would text him later that evening that I kept thinking about the piece. I thought a lot about the social issues - from exploitation, discrimination, abuse, etc. and thought of his works, the suffocating newspapers mummifying youths. He was excited and told me to wait until it is finished. I had not realized it was unfinished.
My first text inquired about the motivation for “Window of Opportunity:”
“This is the quote that really inspired me to do this piece: ‘It’s through curiosity and looking at opportunities in new ways that we’ve always mapped our path.’ Michael Dell. Sometimes, when we may be discouraged, we are tempted to believe that only the “lucky” people receive the best opportunities and that we just don’t have that lucky quality. However, anyone can encounter numerous opportunities when we put in the work to step into the right place at the right time. Since I will finish it tomorrow, it is still a work in progress am actually going to change the story but HOPE is there amidst all this.”
I then shared with Nedia that it would be interesting if he took pictures of the piece at each stage. To which he said: Yes, I will do that because now there are a lot of things that go in as I create… but most of the time when I paint, I rub and repaint until am satisfied with it… subtopics I change a lot of time, but the finished piece stands on its own because that is the only place that am able to communicate with my audience.
Window of Opportunity (Finished), Nedia Were
“The lovely space between my intention and your interpretation is something I welcome”
I found it fascinating that the artist communicates intent through the finished piece, which is interpreted by the viewer. Nedia: Now after reading about your thoughts and interpretation about the piece I am so thrilled, and I totally have a different perspective about it. The way you have put it...it goes well with even how the lady is sitting and the atmosphere around her. Issa: yes, yes, the shades in the background, the window and bars. There is a suffocation… the posture, angle of the head, but there is a hope – like gesture with the hands or at least a longing, a waiting.
He withstood the barrage of questions even late into night. What really excited me was that Nedia listened and mediated my engagement with his works. Though he reserved most of his own thoughts, he listened to my interpretations of “Window of Opportunity,” did intense research on the theme of SUFFOCATION, took inspiration and made changes to the piece in the moment. Even more surprising was that our conversation inspired the theme for his next series, “Suffocation” (below).
“Loner” 2021, Nedia Were
Untitled, Nedia Were Untitled, Nedia Were
As I prepared to return home to the United States, with a bounty of excellent African Contemporary Art and memories of new artist friends with in their own Sense of Place, I reflected on the Journey. For most artists the practical dream is to make a living doing what they are passionate about. Given my conversation with Nedia about corruption and limited economic opportunities, I couldn't help but think how much harder artists everywhere, but especially in low-income countries, must work to survive. In a country like Kenya, where almost a fifth of the population lives in extreme poverty, earning less than $2 a day, how did artists manage financially when the pool of local buyers was so small. “Place” matters, perhaps more socially and culturally than financially.
Yet, while Nedia and I joked a lot about starving artists, it was clear from the conversations that money was only one resource that provided a type of sustenance; the other was engagement, specifically the engagement between the viewer and the art. For someone who committed hours, days, weeks, months working on something with little to no certainty of financial stability, he seemed happiest when I stood in front of his work, with my silence and questioning facial expressions revealing the many directions my thoughts were taking me and the many questions I was preparing to ask him. “Voice” matters, beyond the need for money, Time, and a “room of their own” the artist creates because he/she must.