One Off Contemporary Art Gallery could not be more proud of this extraordinarily talented artist who has been recognised by the Almas Art Foundation with their production of a book and a documentary.
Our Grateful thanks to Farah Jirdeh Fonkenell, Basak Tarman, Sinclair Benintende, Lisa Mitchelson, Kui Wachira and the whole team at the Almas Art Foundation for their wonderful work to promote this talented artist.
Sponsorship of the show in London and the book and documentary launch in Nairobi is highly appreciated.
'Local Conversations' comprises Kimathi's latest series of works which will be exhibited at the Launch of 'Confusing Sky', the book covering the career of this wonderful artist. The documentary will also be premiered at our exhibition.
In addition an exhibition titled 'Heaven is dry' will take place at the
Mandela Space,
The Africa Centre, 66 Great Suffolk Street, London SE1 0BL, UK
23 -28 April 2024
10am to 6pm
Richard Kimathi
Attaining a diploma in Graphics from the Creative Art Centre in Nairobi, in 2000 he received a letter from the New York Selection Committee appointed to choose works for a limited edition of postage stamps for The United Nations: “you, along with Vermeer and Matisse, have been chosen…”. This was a defining moment for Kimathi and for artists in Kenya, a recognition adding impetus to the rising tide of international acknowledgement of the extraordinary talent that had blossomed in the contemporary art of the region.
A committed and serious artist, Kimathi is always exploring; experimenting; searching for a better expression. Over the course of that search he has developed a considerable artistic ability: confident in line, composition and colour; profound in an expression elegant in its simplicity and in its honesty and camouflaged in a caricature-like reductionism rendering a deep and movingly empathetic portrayal of the circumstances of the common Kenyan: the suffering: dignified always, heroic even and without self-pity, privately worn and stoically bourne, as if simply the price of life; patient but, in the compassionate brushwork of the artist, transitory and redeemable. Invisible to the sleepy eye, this sensitivity permeates the entire body of his work.
He exhibits regularly at One Off Contemporary Art Gallery and has shown at Heong Gallery, Cambridge, UK in 2017; The Gallery of African Art (GAFRA) on Cork Street in London in 2014; The Belgium Embassy Residence in Nairobi in 2013 and at Gazzambo Gallery in Madrid, Spain in 2010. He represented Kenya at the Dakar Art Biennale in Senegal in 2006 and has exhibited in Germany, Amsterdam, Italy, Austria and the USA.
His works abound in numerous collections the world over, including The East African Visual Arts Trust Collection, Nairobi, Kenya
Each of the works in the series of 'Local Conversations' comes with a conversation written in KiSwahili which contextulizes the image. An English translation will be available shortly.
Our Grateful thanks to Farah Jirdeh Fonkenell, Basak Tarman, Sinclair Benintende, Lisa Mitchelson, Kui Wachira and the whole team at the Almas Art Foundation for their wonderful work to promote this talented artist.
Sponsorship of the show in London and the book and documentary launch in Nairobi is highly appreciated.
'Local Conversations' comprises Kimathi's latest series of works which will be exhibited at the Launch of 'Confusing Sky', the book covering the career of this wonderful artist. The documentary will also be premiered at our exhibition.
In addition an exhibition titled 'Heaven is dry' will take place at the
Mandela Space,
The Africa Centre, 66 Great Suffolk Street, London SE1 0BL, UK
23 -28 April 2024
10am to 6pm
Richard Kimathi
Attaining a diploma in Graphics from the Creative Art Centre in Nairobi, in 2000 he received a letter from the New York Selection Committee appointed to choose works for a limited edition of postage stamps for The United Nations: “you, along with Vermeer and Matisse, have been chosen…”. This was a defining moment for Kimathi and for artists in Kenya, a recognition adding impetus to the rising tide of international acknowledgement of the extraordinary talent that had blossomed in the contemporary art of the region.
A committed and serious artist, Kimathi is always exploring; experimenting; searching for a better expression. Over the course of that search he has developed a considerable artistic ability: confident in line, composition and colour; profound in an expression elegant in its simplicity and in its honesty and camouflaged in a caricature-like reductionism rendering a deep and movingly empathetic portrayal of the circumstances of the common Kenyan: the suffering: dignified always, heroic even and without self-pity, privately worn and stoically bourne, as if simply the price of life; patient but, in the compassionate brushwork of the artist, transitory and redeemable. Invisible to the sleepy eye, this sensitivity permeates the entire body of his work.
He exhibits regularly at One Off Contemporary Art Gallery and has shown at Heong Gallery, Cambridge, UK in 2017; The Gallery of African Art (GAFRA) on Cork Street in London in 2014; The Belgium Embassy Residence in Nairobi in 2013 and at Gazzambo Gallery in Madrid, Spain in 2010. He represented Kenya at the Dakar Art Biennale in Senegal in 2006 and has exhibited in Germany, Amsterdam, Italy, Austria and the USA.
His works abound in numerous collections the world over, including The East African Visual Arts Trust Collection, Nairobi, Kenya
Each of the works in the series of 'Local Conversations' comes with a conversation written in KiSwahili which contextulizes the image. An English translation will be available shortly.
Young Step -
Mixed media on canvas -
165 x 129 cm -
​Kshs 800 000
A Green Neighborhood -
Mixed media on canvas -
154 x 126 cm -
Kshs 700 000