Richard Kimathi (Kenyan, born 1971)
Untitled, circa 1999
Signed ‘R.KIMATHI’ (lower right)
Oil on hessian cloth
178.5 x 126 cm
Ksh 400,000–600,000
(US$ 3,650–4,450)
Sold Ksh 410,900
Provenance: private collection
Richard Kimathi’s inventive and thought-provoking practice has established him as one of the region’s most respected contemporary painters. He is at the forefront of Kenya’s second generation of post-Independence artists, many of whom emerged from Kuona Trust Centre for Visual Arts in the mid-nineties.
This is an early work done during his time at the Kuona Museum Art Studios. In it can already be seen the painterly language that Kimathi has developed throughout his career – the use of symbolism, the considered, idiosyncratic, compositional placement and the sensitive quality of paint.
Kimathi has exhibited widely, with solo exhibitions in Kenya, the USA and Spain. He was selected to represent Kenya in the Dak’Art Biennale in 2006, has attended residencies in the USA and Pakistan and is in some major art collections.