Thom returns with solo bar paintings exhibition – Business Daily
Thom Ogonga. NMG PHOTO
When Thom Ogonga first made his way to Kuona Trust, back when it was still based at the Nairobi National Museum in the 1990s, he considered himself a painter.
“But then I arrived and was handed a block of wood and told to produce a woodblock print,” Thom tells the BDLife. “It was almost like a test to see who was going to get in; but actually, everyone did,” he adds.
Those were the early days when Kuona wasn’t charging for rent. Instead, it was providing art materials and space for artists to experiment and create. It also had that big old printing press that gave young artists the chance to learn printmaking with hands-on.
Suddenly, from 1997 when he first arrived at Kuona, up until recently, Thom has been best known for being a printmaker and mentor to many young artists who are now just as eager to learn new skills as he was back in the 90s and beyond.
The 90s were a period of tremendous growth and change among visual artists. One thing Thom recalls was good about Kuona was the many workshops that were organised, often featuring professional mentors like Theresa Musoke and Francis Nnaggenda.
Workshop opportunities and residencies also opened up outside of Kenya, leading Thom to explore other aspects of the arts everywhere from Kakuma Refugee Camp to Cape Town, Lagos, Mauritius, and the Netherlands.
Long break
Sometimes he traveled, representing Kuona since arts administration was another of his interests that compelled him to take a break from both printmaking and painting to ensure Kuona was anchored and organised effectively for the artists.
His last solo show of his paintings was in 2012 when he presented ‘Riziki’ at Alliance Francaise. He’s had several exhibitions at Alliance since then, most notably (or notoriously) his shows entitled ‘Sex and the City’ with Michael Soi.
Those were wonderful as they visually satirised the nightlife that he and Michael explored while they were out on the town, “doing research” for their next exhibition.
Those shows would frequently generate controversy. One group wanted the whole show banned for bad behaviour conveyed through the visual figures portrayed in their art.
These critics were fundamentalist so-called Christians who complained bitterly, especially about Soi’s depiction of women prostitutes.
Fortunately, Alliance Francaise’s Harsita Waters wouldn’t ban any aspect of the exhibition. However, when John Kamicha joined them one year, she quietly agreed to remove one work to appease those scandalised by Kamicha’s depiction of Jesus Christ.
Thom’s current solo show at One Off Gallery won’t fall into that pit of confusion or controversy. It’s his first exhibition of paintings since 2012.
In it, he illustrates that his years of focus on printmaking haven’t dulled or defused his strengths as a painter. On the contrary, he brings the same sensibility and sharpened view of his fellow Kenyans who he’s seen hanging out in the bars for years.
Painted with acrylics and charcoal on canvas, Thom’s show entitled “Accept and Move On, It is what it is’ sounds like both wisdom and resignation.
It also feels like the major mood of those Kenyans who may not be happy about the recent national elections results, but are infinitely relieved that violence did not derive from them.
In his catalogue, he alludes to the battering that people have endured during the dark days of lockdown. They have lived through them at both the local and the global levels, and to do so, people have had to ‘accept’ the reality of things however despicable they may seem. “Move on’ is his advice because the situation ‘is what it is’ so check out his paintings.
Nearly all his works are painted with a blood-red background as if to convey the heat of the night which is both emotional and social. All his characters look trendy as if they had dressed up specially to come to sit , stand, or dance in the bar.
There’s also a bit of flirtation going on in several of Thom’s pieces. It’s apparent in a work like ’03:55’ where this attractive woman, dressed in a tight white dress, has men on either side of her as she sits.
She gives no indication of which one she prefers. But they are waiting for her to decide. It’s the barmaids in ‘17:59 hrs’ that I like best. But they are in Thom’s paintings just like the other women, strictly there for business which “is what it is.”
→ [email protected]
