These artists out to arouse your passion in ‘Red’ show

It had been all over the regular arts-news circulation sites. It hadn’t particularly called out your name, demanding your attention. But now you find yourself at the Alliance Francaise, Nairobi, and it’s the exhibition of the month and you think that now that you’re there, you might as well see what it’s about.

That was how I found myself slinking into the French Cultural Centre’s doors, mouth agape, eyes agog, taking in the wares on its wall. The introductory explanation by National Museum of Contemporary Art curator Lydia Galavu had given some indication of what the exhibition entailed but nothing prepared me for what I found.

First, the very title of the exhibition itself. ‘Red.’ What does red mean? While it might not have meaning in itself, it certainly signifies certain things. Danger, urgency, stop, blood, heat, fire, passion, romance.

My first walk around the space left me convinced that what was on the mind of these artists more than anything else, was passion. Quite fitting. Richard Njogu and Clavers Odhiambo, the featured artists, are young men of 23 and 21, respectively.

It’s the youths that are the official custodians of this fiery energy. As the newer born babes on the face of the earth, Mother Life has been relatively kind to them (she is saving her punches for them for their later years). Because of this, this torrid energy runs rife in their blood.

COLLAGE OF BOB MARLEY

By way of introducing us to this overall theme, Njogu presents us with a collage of Jamaican musician Bob Marley, done using broken vinyl records assembled together and painted. Bob Marley represents a lot of things, but one thing is for sure, he personifies passion, what with the global cult-like following he left after his death and that still exists 35 years later.

Njogu might not be exhorting us all to set up cults and become reggae stars but he’s reminding us of three things: Life is shorter than we think, none of us knows our day of departure, whatever gifts or talents we have, we have the chance to use them to the full.

The smoldering intensity which the subject of the painting of ‘Woman in a Green Headscarf’ stares at us with reminds us that passion is not necessarily about being loud and in-your-face, the quiet, behind-the-scenes kind, too, has its power. We also see the intensity and urgency of passion, in ‘Feelings’, which features a woman writhing and contorted from what could be either agony or ecstasy.

And then, as if as an interlude to this crackling, electric energy, a portrait of an aged woman staring desolately into space comes in. This is ‘Quiet Ponder’ by Odhiambo (I’ve seen this picture before, in photographic form, can’t place where just yet).

Is the exhibition also an inadvertent conversation between senex (archetype of the wise old man) and puer (archetype of the hotheaded youth)? Well if this is the case, senex does not appear to be flavour of the month. We see none of its  positive attributes (wisdom, experience, stability, solidity) and all we see is its wrinkly physique, desolation and sadness. Is the senex sad that it did not put all its puer energy into good use in its younger days?

Nevertheless, the heat comes back on with ‘I Stare,’ a painting of half the face of a woman staring coldly and unwaveringly out at you, done by Njogu.

And then there’s more fiery energy with the portrait of Mali musician Habib Koite by Odhiambo. Amid the numerous portraits and female figures, a lot of artists feature.

You can only talk about passion for so long before sexuality comes into the picture. In this collection, too, sexuality has its outlet with a series of nudes ‘Teaser I,’ ‘Teaser II,’ and ‘The Ooze’ by Odhiambo, and ‘Bed Time,’ ‘Nude Study,’ ‘Muscle Study,’ ‘Clothes off Girl’ I and II by Njogu.

A NUDE NOT NECESSARILY SEXUALITY OR PASSION

First, let’s get this clear.  A painting or picture being nude by itself does not necessarily represent sexuality or passion. Most of these, however, are on that theme, Odhiambo’s pics being particularly blatant. Bodies are arched in sexual ecstacy, glistening oil drips off a naked woman’s body, a woman’s nipples and taut stomach are flat out on display.

And then, as if to disarrange our notions of what passion is, Njogu presents us ‘A Street,’ a street at night, bursting with riotous colours of traffic lights, car lights, street lights and house lights.

‘Last One Standing’ (Odhiambo) then comes upon us and leaves us jolted. An image of a woman’s dress standing upright, but with no one in it. It is headless, armless, legless; a crescent moon stands macabrely in the background, the setting is a dark wooded forest. What does it bring to mind? Death, darkness, bleakness.

And then back again we are presented with the image of one of Africa’s most fiery personalities of all time: Nigerian singer Fela Kuti. Titled, ‘Kalakuta King,’ it features Fela in his element in the Shrine, some of his ‘queens’ (the 27 women he married in one go) on their knees in rapt worship to either him or their personal deities.

Other aspects of the torrid rapturous energy these two young men bring out are the pain and pleasure of passion (it has extreme highs and lows) in a picture by the same name, and the occasional lull of passion as seen in ‘Waiting.’ We are reminded, too, of the fact that life comes to an end in ‘Loud Silence.’

The exhibition also features an entire wall of crushed vinyl and painted portraits of artists on one wall. ‘Baba North West’ (Kanye hisself!), Miriam Makeba, Jimi Hendrix, Marvin Gaye. Dedan Kimathi and Wangari Maathai are also in the mix.

Upstairs, there are also portraits of Chinua Achebe and singer Suzanna Owiyo. Actors and activists truly personify passion.

My favourite in this collection is ‘Forbidden Fruit,’ a semi-erotic picture of blown-up lips half-locked in a kiss. We don’t see the faces, only the lips, of which of one of the figures is painted orange against purple skin and the other’s lips are painted purple, with the rest of the facial skin orange. Sugar crystals coat their lips, well-shaped teeth slightly peek out.

What do I like about it? It’s just so many things: an artistic juxtaposition of colour, an overt statement on the sweetness of ‘the forbidden’, freshness, gentleness, tenderness. I also love that there’s no red in it, which leaves it innocent and artistic, bereft of clichéd sexuality.

The exhibition Red ran at the Alliance Francaise from February 13 and closed on February 28.