Peterson Kamwathi (Kenyan, born 1980)
Nchi 1 Barcode (Nchi Yetu Series) 2004–5
unsigned
woodcut plate
40 x 46cm
Ksh 100,000–150,000
US$1,140–1,700
Sold Ksh 375,680
Provenance: Private Collection
Kamwathi has established a reputation as one of the region’s most exciting and inventive artists, responding to the complex political and social issues around him. His work combines clear conceptual elements and rich content with technical mastery. He is an acknowledged master of the woodcut process. Kamwathi has had several solo exhibitions, the most recent at the Frost Museum, Miami in 2013. He has participated in many international workshops and residencies including printmaking at the London Print Studio in 2006, Art Omi International artist residency, New York in 2009 and as a Civitella Ranieri fellow in 2012. ‘Nchi yetu’ is a series of six limited edition woodcuts created between 2004 and 2005 looking at what the artist considered then to be the constituent components of a nation: the people, the flag, the currency, the political party represented by hand signs icons, commerce represented by bar code icons and death represented by coffin icons. These components were presented as symbolic icons around the body of a cow or bull.