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An artist’s voice is what separates him or her from another. It is this voice that individual artists use to express themselves.
Though theirs is a joint effort, this is exactly what Boniface Maina and Michael Musyoka have been trying to showcase through their exhibition dubbed Finding Voice… Maisha, Mitush, Music and other Matters currently going on at the Exhibition Hall in Village Market.
At first glance it is clear much thought was put in coming up with Boniface Maina’s paintings. It takes more than a first look to decode the message behind the colour, images, acrylics and canvas. The pieces speak about grave issues affecting the society that we would otherwise only whisper.
The Blue Print is one such work of art. Depicting many themes at once, it shows a prisoner whose handcuffs are attached to a heavy metal ball inscribed with the words We are One.
In the painting a Chinese official is talking to two Kenyans in court while a foreign journalist is covering this all.
“During elections we fail each other. We hate seeing others progress and bring them down when they go further than us. In reality, we are not one, we are stuck as one and we will not go anywhere if that is the case,” states Maina.
Michael Musyoka’s art pieces paint the concept of second hand attires in Another Mitumba Shoe Again and Shoe Baru.
The pieces are bold and vibrant. His other piece is Tujuane, show a man sharing a table with a woman with the man prophesying his adoration for her. There is also Soul Ties.
“This is about the struggles people go through to get over your first love. I wanted to represent bondage in the most grotesque manner. As you can see they are holding onto their past relationships and they do not want to let go. I had many subjects because I wanted to emphasise the matter,” says Musyoka.
The two artists, both members of Brush Tu, where Maina is the founding member, have had the to show their artistic voice to the world. They have been working on the project for almost one year.
It was inspired by Emeli Sandé’s Read All About It where she encourages one to find their inner voices. For Musyoka, the exhibition that will run until June 2 is his main one; a the celebration of the emergence of his artistic voice and the growth he has made over the years.
