Lot 19

Onyis Martin

Kenyan, born1987

Dance, Reject, Return (triptych), 2016

Signed ‘signature’ (lower right)

Mixed media on paper

55 x 37 cm each

KES 150,000 – 250,000

USD 1,400 – 2,350

Provenance: direct from the artist

Sold KES 305,240

These sophisticated ink paintings by Onyis Martin follow on from a series of work exploring the restriction of freedom. In this triptych the vulnerability of the human forms in the prior series has been conquered and the bodies now express dynamic confidence in their dance moves. Martin’s minimal but decisive touch reinforces how man’s limitation can become his strength.

Based in Nairobi, Martin works in a range of media and has been gaining rapid national and international recognition. His selected group exhibitions include Critical Conversations, Goethe Institut & Alliance Française, Nairobi, 2016, error:X, Ostrale, Dresden, Germany, 2016, Freedom, Flight, Refuge, Circle Art Gallery, Nairobi, 2016, Misty Fields, The Netherlands, 2014, and Art Revolution, Taipei, Taiwan, 2014. Martin won the Third Merit Award at the Barclays L’Atelier Art Competition, 2016.