Lot 19 – 2017

Onyis Martin (Kenyan, born1987)
Dance, Reject, Return (triptych), 2016
Signed ‘signature’ (lower right)
Mixed media on paper
55 x 37 cm each

Ksh 150,000–250,000
(US$) 1,400-2,350
Sold Ksh 305,240

Provenance: direct from the artist

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.