One of my favorite pieces in this whole show is on your right: the naying zebra by Joseph Bertiers Mbatia, made out of scrap metal. and just to the right of dominique is a lovely painting by kathy katuti.
The issue of what constitutes an environmental artist is a controversial and much debated one.
I have friends who thought the show was aimed at saving the zebra, but that is too obvious. it's meant to be all for the planting of trees. okay, right!
Artists make heads turn with unique works on conservation
Safaricom's CEO Bob Collymore with eco-artist Dominque Thoemes during her group exhibition at the Michael Joseph Centre.
By MARGARETTA WA GACHERU
Posted Thursday, May 3 2012 at 16:12
Posted Thursday, May 3 2012 at 16:12
It’s an odd concept. One Dominque Thoemes, an eco-artist with her own brand of humour, is behind the quirky notion of “Zebra in Red Heels?"
Inconceivable as the concept may sound, the woman who’s as
much an artist as she is an art dealer and entrepreneur, managed to sell
it to Safaricom who is sponsoring her group exhibition, which opened on
April 18, at the Michael Joseph Centre.
The selling point for Thoemes was mainly the ecological aspect of the show.
Billing herself as an environmental artist who
paints for a worthy cause, fighting deforestation in Africa, she lays no
claim to the legacy of the late Nobel laureate Professor Wangari
Maathai.
The fact that she doesn’t acknowledge Wangari’s
work is a bit odd, more so as she’s lived in Kenya off and on since she
was three years old.
Leaving that anomaly aside, Thoemes’ cause is a
worthy one. I just have to wonder what zebras wearing red high heels in
the middle of the savannah have to do with planting trees.
High heels
She says her chief source of inspiration is Dr
Seuss, a children’s book author, and her own poetry, which was inspired
by the author.
Thoemes has successfully taken her zebra in sparkly ‘Wizard of Oz’ like red high heels show all over the world, in the last six years. She has exhibited all over Africa and Europe.
I might be the only one who finds the showcasing of
wildlife wearing heels at odds with conservation. Nonetheless, one has
to hand it to her for combining her skill as an entrepreneur and an art
dealer with her environmental appreciation.
“Previously, for every artwork I sold, I promised to plant five trees,” said Thoemes at the exhibition opening.
“Safaricom has enabled us to take our project to a
whole new level when they agreed that for every piece we sold they would
plant 100 trees, not just five. This is fantastic.”
One of the best things about the exhibition is that
Thoemes has included a number of outstanding Kenyan artists and a few
longstanding resident artists in the show, all of whom use recycled
materials to create their art.
The artists include: Joseph ‘Bertiers’ Mbatia, Kathy Katuti, Dennis Muraguri, Andrew McNaughton and Nani Croze.
Ironically, Thoemes herself doesn’t use recycled
materials in her various zebra paintings. They are alloil on canvas.
Where she redeems herself is again as an entrepreneur whose brand name
is Belle Matata, which specialises in combining art, fashion and the
environment.
The wall hangings that feature in her zebra show are all stitched with a wide array of recycled materials.
The other impressive bit about this show is the way she keeps it going as an art dealer.
“Once I sell works of art, I replenish the
exhibition by commissioning more art from local artists,” said Thoemes
who, for her Safaricom show, commissioned Kenyan artists to take her
zebra in red heels theme and incorporate it in their own original
fashion.
This saw scrap metal sculptor like Mbatia,
Ng’ang’a, and Muraguri came up with pieces that are uniquely their own.
Both Mbatia and Nga’nga created life-sized zebras in scrap metal and
wire respectively, each conspicuously including fancy red heels.
Muraguri’s work is less explicit. His scrap metal
sculpture, a four-fingered hand using a gazelle horn for a fifth finger,
suggests he has a deeper message to convey.
Katuti’s paintings are of jungle scenes on recycled
khangas while Croze opted to create a colourful glass wall, using
recycled glass.
Naughton focused on the zebra’s shoes, which he shaped from rubber flip-flops.
What is most impressive about Thoemes is her
entrepreneurial savvy mixed with her ability to blend art marketing and
fashion with environmentalism.
Her Belle Matata brand confirms the fact that artists can succeed in blending art, commerce and conservation with ease.
.
- Kenya tops Africa in cross-border investment
- UN diplomat beckons KLM for discrimination duel
- Tax plans signal a looming rise in beer, cigarette prices
- South Africa’s FirstRand plans to acquire Kenyan bank
- Follow these crucial steps to keep your boss happy and your job safe
- NSSF on the spot over contested pay to Nairobi varsity
- Githae law requires all workers to open salary accounts
- MPs probe more clinic owners in NHIF cash saga
- CCK board split over 35 pc termination fee cut
- Treasury rejects Consolidated Bank’s bid for capital boost
- Boost worker morale through little gestures
- Have loan assessment formula at fingertips before rushing to bank
- Standard & Poor’s predicts growth in sub-Sahara Africa
- Time for ‘city in the sun’ to switch on green
- Residents endorse office blocks plan in upmarket areas
RSS
.
- Kenya tops Africa in cross-border investment
- UN diplomat beckons KLM for discrimination duel
- Tax plans signal a looming rise in beer, cigarette prices
- South Africa’s FirstRand plans to acquire Kenyan bank
- Follow these crucial steps to keep your boss happy and your job safe
- NSSF on the spot over contested pay to Nairobi varsity
- Githae law requires all workers to open salary accounts
- MPs probe more clinic owners in NHIF cash saga
- CCK board split over 35 pc termination fee cut
- Treasury rejects Consolidated Bank’s bid for capital boost
- Boost worker morale through little gestures
- Have loan assessment formula at fingertips before rushing to bank
- Standard & Poor’s predicts growth in sub-Sahara Africa
- Time for ‘city in the sun’ to switch on green
- Residents endorse office blocks plan in upmarket areas
No comments:
Post a Comment