Lot 22

Peterson Kamwathi (Kenyan, born 1980)
Study for an Incomplete Rainbow, 2012
Unsigned
Mild Steel and enamel paint
130.5 x 42 x 40.5 cm (including the base)
Ksh 550,000 – 700,000 ARR
(US$) 5,350 – 6,800
Provenance: Private collection of Tony Wainaina

Sold Ksh 585,500

Peterson Kamwathi is considered one of the region’s most inventive artists, responding to the complex political and social issues around him. His work combines clear conceptual elements and rich content with technical mastery.

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

Kamwathi works predominantly in printmaking, drawing, mixed media, occasionally expanding his practice into sculpture. This work (lot 22) was created as a study for a set of six larger figures.