Lot 40 John Dianga, Watching
Lot 40 John Dianga, Broadcasting
John Obaso Diang’a (Kenyan, born 1945)
Watching, 1986 and Broadcasting, 1986
Signed ‘J Diang’a’ (lower right) on both
Edition A/P and edition 1/10 woodcut prints on paper
29.5 x 26 cm and 37 x 24.5 cm
Ksh 50,000-80,000
(US$ 470-750)
Sold Ksh 41,090 post-auction
Provenance: private collection
John Diang’a is an influential Kenyan sculptor, painter and printmaker whose works are known for their exploration of perfect abstract forms. He lives and works in Maseno, where he founded the Esiepala Cultural Centre in the early 1980s.
His woodcut prints play with inventive designs, reflecting his sculptural interest in the balance of form and shadow and of positive and negative space.
Diang’a achieved a BA Honours in Fine Arts from the University of Nairobi in 1973. He was a teacher in the Department of Fine Arts at the Kagumo College in Nyeri. In his earlier career he exhibited widely in Nairobi, holding multiple solo exhibitions at Gallery Watatu. In more recent years his work has also been exhibited in Germany and he has had two museum exhibitions, in Kisumu and Nairobi. His work is in international collections including the Kunst Transit, Berlin and the Contemporary African Art Collection, Kisumu Museum.