Virgin, 2014

Moses Nyawanda  

Moses Nyawanda comes from the Kericho district, high up in Kenya's famous western tea growing region, where he was born in 1972.

Nyawanda joined the Creative Art Centre (Nairobi) in 1993 for a three-year diploma in Fine Arts and then worked as a laboratory assistant as he could not afford to pursue a full-time career in the arts. He soon left his laboratory tools and Petri dishes behind and exchanged them for brushes, spatulas and palettes. It should not be to his disadvantage.

With a style all his own, he soon attracted the attention of art lovers in Nairobi, and exhibitions followed at the British and French embassies. Moses took part in various sponsored workshops. He mainly learned common techniques, but the training enabled the budding artist to earn a living from his art while at the same time pursuing his passion for experimenting with modern art. Moses was particularly attracted to the abstract.

Since then he has participated in several group and solo exhibitions and won art prizes. Most of his paintings are painted on canvas, some also on paper. His subjects are the people of Kenya. Moses uses gestures and facial expressions to the extreme in abstract, almost cubist form. Today he is one of the most famous abstract artists in Africa.

"My main interest in art is in the use of colour, not the subject. Sometimes, I capture the expression on people's faces and the everyday African lifestyle. My art is quite contemporary, and lines and colour are constantly present in my work; this must have come about through experimenting with cubism a few years ago".