Ian Mwesiga (Ugandan, born 1988)
Self Portrait, 2017
Unsigned
Oil on canvas
149 x 100 cm
Ksh 360,000-410,000
(US$ 3,250-3,750)
Sold Ksh 399,160
Provenance: direct from the artist
This striking piece is from a continuing body of work in which Ian Mwesiga is exploring black portraiture, referencing post-independence African lifestyles. Complex compositions are developed from an amalgamation of imagery, including personal collections of photographs, connoting what the artist describes as “progressive Africa”.
Mwesiga graduated with a BA in Fine Art from the Margaret Trowell School of Industrial and Fine Arts in 2014. He has undertaken residencies at 32° East, Ugandan Arts Trust, Kampala and Kuona Trust Centre for Visual Arts, Nairobi both in 2014. His works have been exhibited in solo exhibitions Melancholy, Makerere Art Gallery (MIHCR), Kampala, 2015 and at the AKA Gallery, Kampala, 2014 as well as numerous selected group exhibitions including Young Guns, Circle Art Gallery, Nairobi, 2017, African Culture and Design Festival (ACDF), Lagos 2017, Forward Ever Backward Never, Framer Framed, Amsterdam, 2015, East African Encounters, Circle Art Gallery, Nairobi, 2014, KLA ART 014, Kampala Contemporary Art Festival, 2014 and Moving Africa, Dak’art Biennale, 2014. Mwesiga participated in the At Work workshop facilitated by Simon Njami and the Asiko Art School in Maputo facilitated by Bisi Silva and CCA Lagos, both in 2015.