• INSIGHT: WEEK 6 | WANGARI MATHENGE

    22 - 28 July

  • INSIGHT IS A NEW ONLINE PLATFORM PRESENTED BY PIPPY HOULDSWORTH GALLERY, DEBUTING WORK BY A DIFFERENT ARTIST EACH WEEK. NEW WORK MADE DURING LOCKDOWN WILL BE HIGHLIGHTED ALONGSIDE A VIDEO STUDIO VISIT PRESENTED BY THE ARTIST. 

    INSIGHT runs alongside the main programme

    Ming Smith: view here

  • INSIGHT: WEEK 6 | WANGARI MATHENGE

  • Wangari Mathenge is a figurative painter whose practice centres the experience of black women, often depicting close acquaintances in domestic or familiar environments. Expressive brushstrokes and a bold palette characterise assertive figures, comfortable in themselves and their relationship to others. Mathenge, who was born in Kenya and moved to the United States to study, draws on personal experience to examine conceptions of diaspora, migration and the plasticity of identity.

  • The Ascendants V (Intercessory Prayer), 2020 oil on canvas 165.1 x 223.5 cm, 65 x 88 in (PH0266) Sold In...

    The Ascendants V (Intercessory Prayer), 2020

    oil on canvas
    165.1 x 223.5 cm, 65 x 88 in
    (PH0266)

    Sold

     

    In The Ascendants V (Intercessory Prayer) a couple sit contemplatively on the floor. Their emotions seem uncertain – the woman looks upwards, the man stares down at his knees. Both figures are wearing trousers made of kanga fabric, a brightly patterned material that adorns the coffee table, covers the cushions and is used as a mat or carpet. These fabrics, bearing proverbs or words of wisdom, have multiple uses and traditionally are worn ceremonially across the east coast of Africa. In contrast to Mathenge’s earlier works, this painting delights freely in the exuberance of colour and print – a celebration of cultures that value ornament and decoration. Echoed in the piles of books, snacks and sundries, the accumulation of pattern may be seen to reflect the complexity of competing identities and experiences.

  • ‘Mathenge understands that a slight shift in perception can significantly alter the way we interact with the world around us, and thus proposes that any radical action begins with the gaze, with not being afraid to “see” and perceive.’

    Eve Wood, Riot Material, 2019

  • The Ascendants IV (Culture and Imperialism), 2020 oil on canvas 144.8 x 180.3 cm, 57 x 71 in Sold The...

    The Ascendants IV (Culture and Imperialism), 2020

    oil on canvas
    144.8 x 180.3 cm, 57 x 71 in
    Sold

     

    The Ascendants IV (Culture and Imperialism) takes its title from a collection of essays by Edward Said of the same name. Engaging in discourse on the two linked subjects, Culture and Imperialism questions how to celebrate hybridity, whilst presenting a figure assertively confident in herself. A woman dozes peacefully, taking a rest from reading the book splayed out beside her. Her unguarded posture, stretched out on the floor, conveys serenity - a moment of quiet intimacy that that the viewer is invited to share through the painting's low perspective. Around her is the clutter of domestic life - food, books, toiletries, slippers - the everyday markers of the individual. A small figurine sits on the coffee table, a sculpture of a man recognisable to anyone from Kenya. This figure, given to Mathenge upon leaving Nairobi, travels with her constantly - a piece of Kenya wherever she goes.

  • The Ascendants

    These two new paintings belong to The Ascendants, a body of work begun in 2018 as an offshoot of an ongoing series, The Expats. These paintings respond to the culturally accepted perception of 'expats' as a group distinct from 'immigrants', due to socio-economic, political or racialised status. Mathenge draws on her family's experience of living in the United Kingdom in the 1970s, where her father worked on assignment to the Commonwealth Secretariat, to challenge this double standard. The Ascendants, again a very personal series, draws on these ideas to examine what it means to live in relationship to traditional African culture and the legacy of colonialism, and how these histories interact in the present.

  • ‘for me, painting is […] an expression of myself, a form of catharsis […] something of me that I offer to the world unsolicited.’

    Wangari Mathenge, Artsy, 2020

  • (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).

  • ‘Mathenge’s silent dialogue is one of personal strength, humility and majesty. Each of her figures demonstrates within the scope of their body language and expression, their own strategies for living, indeed for thriving in a world that appears to have gone mad.’

     Eve Wood, Riot Material, 2019

  • About Wangari Mathenge

    About Wangari Mathenge

    Wangari Mathenge (b. Nairobi, Kenya, 1973) lives and works in Chicago. She is currently completing an MFA in Painting and Drawing at the School of The Art Institute, Chicago. The artist had her first solo exhibition, Aura of Quiet, in the project space at Roberts Projects, Los Angeles in 2019. Her work has been featured in publications including Artforum, Art of Choice, Artsy, Culture Type, Creative Boom and Riot Material.

  • ‘I enjoy expressive brushwork … It’s the one part of painting that is always a surprise, as it is often dictated by mood and energy.’

    Wangari Mathenge, Artsy, 2020

  • Press