Untitled I, 2019

Michael W. Soi  

Michael W. Soi (1972) is a Kenyan artist who has been working in Nairobi (Kenya) since 1995 after completing his studies in fine arts and art history.

Michael Soi is inspired by contemporary life in Nairobi. His work offers a photographic diary of Nairobi and is a satirical commentary on social, economic and political conditions and developments. His work explores relationships - across generations, between different ethnic groups or more generally what he calls the economy of love, commercial sex work and social interaction in the context of globalisation and consumerism.

A hallmark of his art is his outstanding imagination and strong style - usually colourful paintings with black contours that are illustrative and both playful and marked by biting derision. Michael Soi is in a strong tradition of caricaturists who have accompanied Kenyan society since independence, often bravely and humorously exposing the political establishment.

"I want to create works that highlight the problems of women in Africa, especially problems related to how men see women here and how they treat them. For many people who look at my work, it is not an interesting subject, because they would rather not talk about it. They would rather bury their heads in the sand and pretend that such things do not exist. My work illustrates the role assigned to women as tools of pleasure, of enjoyment and as a means to an end for men. This is a subject I have been interested in for quite some time, and the aim is to influence how men see and deal with women."

Michael Soi has exhibited his work both nationally and internationally and has a large fan base of collectors and enthusiasts worldwide. He lives and works in Nairobi (Kenya).