Art Auction East Africa 2022 Lot 26 Peterson Kamwathi

Peterson Kamwathi (Kenyan, born 1980)
Kadhis’ Court Vl, circa 2011
Signed ‘signature’ lower right
Graphite, pastel and charcoal on paper
151x 121.5 cm
Ksh 1,000,000 – 1.500.000 ARR
(US$) 8,700 -13,000
Provenance: private collection
Sold Ksh 1,643,600

Peterson Kamwathi is considered one of the region’s most inventive artists, incisively responding to the political and social issues around him. Working predominantly in printmaking, drawing and sculpture, Kamwathi combines conceptual elements and rich content with technical mastery.

Kadhis’ Court is from a series of large drawings, inspired by the Bill of Rights in the New Constitution with two clerics, seemly imprisoned in red tape which proclaims the legality of the Islamic Khadis’ Court.

Kamwathi has exhibited widely both locally and internationally. Recent highlights include his participation in Borderlines – Thirty Contemporary Artists from the Indian Ocean, Port Louis, Mauritius; the Young Congo Biennial, Kinshasa, DRC, both in 2019; and Selections from the Private Collection of Ernst Hilger, Museum Angerlehner, Austria, 2018. Other significant exhibitions include When the Heavens Meet the Earth, Heong Gallery, Cambridge, 2017; and La Biennale di Venezia, Venice, 2017 where he represented Kenya. He has participated in many international workshops and residencies including the Fountainhead Residency in Miami, 2016; the Civitella Ranieri fellowship, 2012; the Art Omi international artist residency, 2009 and a printmaking residency at the London Print Studio, 2006. In 2013 he exhibited in the joint exhibition Six Degrees of Separate Nations, Frost Art Museum, Miami. Kamwathi’s work is collected widely both locally and internationally, including by the British Museum.