Kimathi Donkor: Some Clarity of Vision

1. For Moses had married an Ethiopian woman (Numbers 12:1), (Oil and Acrylic on canvas, 165 x 210 cm, 2015)
2. When shall we 3? (Scenes from the life of Njinga Mbandi)(Oil and Acrylic on Canvas, 120 x 150 cm, 2015)
3. St. Iphigenia and St. Matthew (Oil and Acrylic on Canvas 120 x 149.5 cm, 2015)
4. You will not always have me (Oil and Acrylic on Canvas 90 x 120cm, 2015)
5. You will not always have me (Oil and Acrylic on Canvas 90 x 120cm, 2015)
6. The Venice Mechanism (Oil, Acrylic, Wood, and Staples on Canvas 100 x 80 cm, 2015)
7. The Nkisi Aura, (Oil, Acrylic, Wood, and Staples on Canvas 50 x 60 cm, 2015)
8. Oshun visits Gaba at Tate's 'Big House' (Oil on Canvas, 76 x 106 cm, 2013)
9. London visitation of Nanny of the Maroons, (oil on Canvas, 170 x 140 cm, 2013)
10. Harriet Tubman en route to Canada, (Oil on Canvas, 210 x 165 cm, 2012)
11. Resist (oil, acrylic, wood, staples, coins and charcoal on Canvas, 120 x 100 cm, 2008)
12. Analyse, (oil, acrylic, wood, staples, coins and charcoal on canvas, 120 x 150 cm, 2008)
13. Notebook IX (watercolour and graphite on paper, 31 x 23cm, 2014)
14. Notebook XI (watercolour and graphite on paper, 31 x 23cm, 2013)
15. Notebook XII (watercolour and graphite on paper, 32 x 24 cm, 2013)

Following a two-month onsite residency, the new and recent works listed above were exhibited in the solo exhibition 'Kimathi Donkor: Some Clarity of Vision' at Gallery MOMO in Johannesburg, South Africa from 8th September until 12th October, 2015. Below is the text from the press release and gallery pamphlet.

"Black goddesses, heroines, queens and saints have been the inspiration for many of Kimathi Donkor's paintings. And, after researching how these subjects have been depicted in literature and art, he invited contemporary, black women from Africa and its Diasporas to model for scenes that re-imagine the adventures, encounters and spirit of their celebrated forebears.

Donkor intends his realistic portraits to convey the beauty and grace of his models as well as the strength and grandeur of the historical characters which they embody. Consequently, much of his practice is devoted to crafting meticulously the faces, gestures and expressions of the figures which populate his images.

Each work contemplates a single moment drawn from an epic narrative and Donkor plays freely with the constraints of time and location, frequently displacing his figures into a contemporary, 21st Century context. In one recent, monumental painting (which, the artist made entirely in South Africa) the biblical, black wife of the prophet Moses seems to anticipate happily her impending exodus to the promised land - while the grim towers of the infamous Marikana mine stand ominously on the golden horizon behind her.

Such compelling fusions of symbolism, portraiture, landscape and appropriation have produced a unique approach to painting that is simultaneously celebratory but provocative, as well as being visually accessible and intellectually engaging."

Works 1-5 and 13-15 were first exhibited in this exhibition. Works no 6 & 7 were first exhibited at the Notting Hill Gate Theatre, London in 2015. Works no 8 & 9 were first exhibited at Peckham Space, London in 2013. Works no 9 & 10 were first exhibited at Rivington Place, London in 2012, works no 11 & 12 were first exhibited at the Market Place Theatre Gallery, Armagh, N Ireland in 2008.

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