In the last decade, more East African artists have become well-known on the global circuit of galleries, institutions, and auction houses. Here is a list of top East African painters you should know:
Wangechi Mutu
Kenyan and contemporary painter, Wangechi Mutu (b. 1972) explores the abuses and misrepresentations that Black women—in particular—experience in modern society through a technique that includes painting, sculpture, collage, cinema, and installation. The effects of globalization and consumerism are also frequent themes. Throughout Mutu’s mythical bronze and bricolages of paint, ink, magazine cutouts, found objects, and contorted feminine forms, which seem both futuristic and primal, can be found.
Image courtesy of Artsy.
Follow Wangechi Mutu here.
Michael Armitage
Born in 1984, Michael Armitage is a Kenyan contemporary painter living and working between London, the United Kingdom, and his hometown. He is best known for his figuratively rendered oil paintings that are painted on the native Lubugo bark cloth from Uganda.
Image courtesy of Artsy.
He incorporates narratives from both the historical and modern media by drawing inspiration from both. The visual iconography of East Africa lies at the core of his artistic approach. By doing this, Armitage confronts the terrible realities of East Africa, which includes political problems, violence, inequality, and stark financial disparities.
The artist is represented by White Cube Gallery.
Follow Michael Armitage here.
Julie Mehretu
Ethiopian-American artist, Julie Mehretu was born in 1970 in Addis Ababa and currently resides and works in New York. Her monumental paintings can be interpreted as abstract landscapes, using various media on various surfaces inspired by architectural plans, photography, city maps, and more.
Her two-dimensional paintings have an eclectic style which includes calligraphy, graffiti, and street art. Mehretu aims to examine the sociopolitical implications of our urban environment’s history. For her magnificent tableaus, she chooses markers, paint brushes, spray cans, pencils, or screen printing.
Image courtesy of Artsy.
The artist is represented by Marian Goodman Gallery.
Follow Julie Mehretu here.
Kudzanai-Violet Hwami
Kudzanai-Violet Hwami (b. 1993) is a Zimbabwean painter who lives and works in London, England. Her work, which explores sexuality, race, gender and spirituality, combines visual fragments from different sources, such as online images and personal photographs, which collapse the past and present. She draws on her experiences of geographical dislocation and displacement. Many of her paintings feature self-portraits and photographs of her personal and extended family.
Image courtesy of Victoria Miro.
Follow Kudzanai-Violet Hwami here.
