Anthony Okello (Kenyan, born 1976)
Bird Watchers at Maragwa, 2004
Signed ‘Okello.04’ (lower middle)
Oil on canvas
122 x 91.5cm
Ksh 120,000-170,000
US$ 1,350-1,950
Sold Ksh 305,240
Provenance: private collection
Anthony Okello’s works over the last 5 years have characteristically been allegorical compositions with a cast of animal and human forms playing out mythologies collected from local communities. In his recent series of work there is a move towards a more personal mythology. Okello was born in Kenya and studied art at the Buru Buru Institute of Fine Art before moving to Kuona Trust in 2004. His work is included in various private and corporate collections such as PwC and Afren PLC. His work has been published in ‘World Art Collection – 1001 reasons to love the art’ and he has exhibited in Kenya, India and France.
This painting is an early work inspired by the artist’s stay in the forests of Mount Kenya and the birdlife he saw there in 2004.