Exhibition: The Face of Nairobi by Michael Soi, Mar. 23-Apr. 12 2013 @ Goethe Institut

Opening: March 23, 2013
Venue: Goethe Institut
Time: 7 pm

Dates: March 25-April 12, 2013
Time: 1-6 pm

The exhibition series Sasa Nairobi is the basis of Goethe Institut’s work in the field of contemporary art. Since 2008, GI has exhibited around 30 artists, the last being a solo show by Mimi Cherono Ng’ok. Now they continue this series with the Kenyan painter Michael Soi. Being the son of one of Kenya’s well-known painters, Soi is a member of what can be termed as the second generation of Kenyan artists that emerged in the late 90’s.

His paintings are inspired by the city of Nairobi and revolve around its political, economic and social aspects. With satire and a humorous gaze he thus comments on political impunity, greed and Kenya’s growing sex industry.

The exhibition The Face of Nairobi is an ongoing portrait series, depicting Kenyan women. Soi refers to the show as “a celebration of the mother, the sister, the aunt and the daughter. The work on display is from a series of 42 paintings, all portraying Kenyan women from all over Nairobi who can occasionally be seen walking down the street, in the bar or in the church.”

Exhibition Opening: Saturday, 23rd March 2013, 7 pm
Exhibition: Monday to Friday, 25th March to 12th April 2013, 1 to 6 pm

Exhibition: Peace through Service, Until Feb. 27 2013 @ Village Market

Dates: Until Feb. 27, 2013
Venue: Village Market

This is a group exhibition by some of Kuona artists with guest artists Peterson Kamwathi, Patrick Mukabi, Peter Walala, Michael Soi and Gor Sudan.

This is a fundraising exhibition held in collaboration with the Kenya Rotary Club in support of various charities in Kenya.

Private Art Show: Sculptures and Sculptors, Dec. 1-2 2012 @ the Little Art Gallery

The Little Art Gallery presents a private art show … a weekend of art with friends;

Dates: December 1-2, 2012
Venue: Mechtild and Will’s residence, (St Michaels Rd, off Waiyaki Way – Opp. Safaricom Hse.
Time: 11am – 6 pm
RSVP: William 0722 457 111, e-mail – William@thelittleartgallery.co.ke or Mechtild 0737 184 451, e-mail – mechtild@xs4all.n

A selection of fine sculptors including Bertiers, Morris Foit, Irene Wanjiru, Harrison Mburu, Omosh Kindeh, Anthony Wanjau, Peter Walala, Ken Mwingi, Dickens Otieno, Michael Soi, Kepha Musoti and Dennis Muraguri.

On Sunday 2nd, enjoy a glass of wine and the artists’ company as you contemplate their artworks. A few paintings will also be on show.

Exhibition: Art Bits by GoDown Arts Resident Artists, Nov. 24-Dec. 14 2012 @ GoDown Arts Centre

The GoDown resident artists and some of their students will be holding their second annual art exhibition at the GoDown Arts Centre.

Featuring work by resident artists;
Dickens Otieno, Mary Ogembo, Caroline Mbirua, Hassan Fadhul, Dickson Kaloki, Charles Ngatia, Tom Mboya, Patrick Kariuki, Michael Soi, Thom Ogonga, Alex Mbevo, Esther Mukuhi, Martin Onyango, Patrick Mukabi, Noor Jefwa

The theme of the exhibition is Art Bits and will feature artworks produced in the course of the year

Opening: Saturday 24th November, 2012
Venue: GoDown Arts Centre
Time: 2-6 pm

Exhibition: Come Baby Come – An Exhibition of paintings by Michael Soi, Sept 10-30 2012 @ National Museum’s Creativity Gallery

Dates: September 10-30, 2012
Venue: Creativity Gallery, National Museum

This exhibition features recent work that has been created in the last few months ranging from pubs, the Olympics, Kenyan politics and other things.

NB: The show has been rated as General Exhibition so you can go with the kids

About MS
Michael Soi is a member of what is termed as the second generation of Kenyan artists that emerged through kuona trust in the late 90′s among a group of other notable artists of his generation. In 1996, he began his career soon after graduating from art school as a sculptor and subsequently refined his own visual and artistic vocabulary over the years. He begun work that was more of social commentary revolving around everyday life of the ordinary Kenyan and this work has been well received by Kenyans living here in Kenya and in the diaspora who the artist basically addresses in his work.

His work has been collected by the Casoria Museum of Contemporary Art in Napoli, Italy, the Standard Chartered Bank (UK) and individuals like Luis Moreno Ocampo, Michela Wrong, Atsango Chesoni, Robert Deveraux among others.
Michael is based in Nairobi at the GoDown arts centre. This exhibition addresses issues observed on the last five months from football, bars, the Olympics among other things.

Exhibition: Michael Soi & Thom Ogonga Recent Works, Jun. 24-Jul. 25 2012 @ One Off Gallery

Opening Date: June 24, 2012
Venue: #16 Rosslyn Lone Tree
Directions: One off is past village market, drive on for like 500 meters then you will get to the main entrance to Runda, ignore the turning then drive ahead for like 200 meters and on your left, you will see a sign for Cockar Vet. Clinic. Make a left the drive uphill for like 300 meters then turn right at the top of the hill and one off will be on your left 300m ahead. There is a metal sculpture of a Masaai man
Time: 11am-5pm

Exhibition Dates: June 24-July 25, 2012
Working days: Tuesday-Sunday
Time: 11am-5pm
Tel. Contacts: 0722 521870

About Michael Soi
Michael Soi is an award winning Kenyan artist currently based in Nairobi. He graduated from art school 1996 after which he worked at Kuona Trust, Centre for Visual arts as the workshops & international exchange coordinator 2005-10.

Soi has developed into an artist with a unique vision and highly distinctive style. His three dimensional work is playful and cryptic while his paintings provide satirical commentary on socio-political issues.
He draws inspiration from the city of Nairobi and the day to day activities that go down in the city.His work features in various corporate and public collections including the Casoria museum of contemporary art in Italy, the standard chartered bank collection in the United Kingdom and individuals like Luis Moreno Ocampo, Michela Wrong among many other notable individuals.

You can catch what Michael is working on his Facebook Page: The Art of Michael Soi

About Ogonga Thom
Thom is a self-taught artist whose specialty is in painting, printmaking & has recently ventured into experimental photography.

Thom is inspired by fashion, music, urban lifestyles and even more fascinated by the controversial city nightlife. All the activities that color the night excite the artist in him and feature prominently as the core theme of his work.

Thom has exhibited widely and featured in various public art projects, workshops & residencies both locally and abroad.

Season Premiere/Performance + Exhibition: Cut off my Tongue, Mar. 24 2012 @ Braeburn Theatre

Sitawa Namwalie is pleased to announce the return of her highly acclaimed production Cut off my Tongue. The season premiere is on;

Date: March 24, 2012
Venue: Braeburn Theatre, Gitanga Rd. Lavington.
Time: 7pm.
Tickets: Kshs. 1000 (to book your ticket call 0722 531 277)

This show will be preceded by an art exhibition by Gor Soudan and Michael Soi from 5.30 to 6.45pm.

Exhibition: Recent Paintings-Michael Soi, Sept. 6-31 2011 @ Alliance

Dates: September 6-31, 2011
Venue: Alliance Francaise (Ground Floor Gallery)
Entry: Free

Michael Soi is a member of the 2nd generation of Kenyan artists who emerged through the Kuona Art Studio in the late 1990s.
Soi is exhibiting his present series of paintings that address graft as well as a series that revolves around the denial that surrounds the existence of prostitution and strip clubs.

Art Exhibit: Michael Soi, Anders Grum and “inmates”, until Mar 4 2010 @ RaMoMa

Michael Soi has been a keen spectator of contemporary social, economic, and political trends. He has immersed himself into material that is bombarding most of our information channels and puts in his interpretation of the situation. Most of what he is commenting on is corruption in many levels that is stuck in our society. One of his canvases with the writing “the metamorphosis of a Kenyan politician” portrays characters in transition, which has become very predictable to any Kenyan with a sound mind. He uses cats and pigs as metaphors to represent greed and gluttony respectively. He started using imagery of cats and pigs on children’s works (the more reason he is using heavy presence of pure solid colours) and has evolved to comment on adult behaviour.

This exhibition by a Danish architect Anders Grum, is an exploration of the photographic recordings in Kenya in the 1970’s. It is a small peek into what some photographers based in Kenya, at different times, found interesting to record. This “peek” will extend into what photographers (or people who take or have taken pictures regularly) of different spectra are doing today. Between 1969 and 1974 Anders Grum participated in ethnographic and social anthropology expeditions to Ukambani, Pokot and to the Boni at the Kenya coast. Later he joined the musicologist, Dr. Paul Kavyu during several visits to music and dance events in Ukambani. Between 1974 and 1975, he lived and moved for seven months with the Rendille nomadic camel pastoralists in the semi-dessert of Marsabit district, together with his wife Mette and children, conducting a study of their nomadic life, habitation and migration. The Rendille accepted photography after an initial period of reluctance, a medium that obviously became an important tool of recording aspects of daily and ceremonial life.

Remand prisoners often are behind bars for many years, waiting to appear in court. These inmates are not allowed to work, lending their hands and minds almost idle. Running art workshops for capital offenders was borne of this by the officer in Charge of Nairobi Remand and Allocation Prison which were organized and run by Faraja Trust from December 2008, for three afternoons a week.
The workshops were conceived to impart basics in drawing and painting, and at the same time contributing to the process of healing and rehabilitation. The topics that the art students dealt with always had to do with themselves and their current situation. Questions like: “What do I possess?” / “What do I define as my home?” / “Who am I? How am I?” / “Why am I here?” have been raised, transformed into artwork and thereafter been discussed in small groups. In June, 25 of the inmates took part in an international contest for prisoners held in Vienna, whereby two of them were awarded. Towards the end of the year, the inmates started painting the partitions of the school blocks and the prison wall at the gate yard. As a highlight of the one-year lasting art course, an Art Gala was organized – a unique exhibition behind bars, linked with the graduation of art students. The exhibition here at RaMoMA is a selection of some of the works that are deeply indicative of the ideas of the inmates and express varied creative ideas with brilliant execution. Rebekka Schraner, an artist and art educator, curated this exhibition.