David Thuku
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Thuku was born in 1985 in Nakuru, Kenya.
A recipient of the Langalanga Scholarship Fund (a U.K based Charity Organisation that supports the education of young, bright and needy Kenyan kids), he is a Diploma graduate from the BuruBuru Institute of Fine Arts in Nairobi. In 2013 he co-founded Brush-Tu Art Studio, a creative arts collective providing artists with studio space and collaborative exchange. He has exhibited extensively in Nairobi, and recently participated in international Art Fairs including 1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair, Young International Art Fair, Drawing Now Paris and Also Known As Africa Art Fair (AKAA). Thuku works in a variety of media, from conventional oil paint on canvas, to a more recent focus on paper. He cuts and peels paper away to reveal carefully constructed images. These works on paper explore the nature of social structure, identity and urban migration through semi-abstract portraits. They analyse the everyday space we occupy, peeling layers away to uncover hidden dimensions. He uses repeated motifs to indicate a spatial environment and character. Pattern has particular significance in his work. It creates a sense of space, perspective, comparison and signifies continuity. Thuku lives and works in Nairobi. |
Selection of works
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Exhibitions2019: Paper works. Group exhibition, One Off Gallery, Nairobi.
2018: Barcode - the layer Between. Solo Exhibition at The Red Hill Gallery, Nairobi. 2018: Line, The basic element. Group show at One Off Gallery, Nairobi. 2017: Also Known As Africa Art Fair, Paris. 2017: Young Guns group exhibition, Circle Gallery, Nairobi. 2017: Drawing Now Art Fair, Paris. 2016 : This for That. Duo show with Michael Musyoka, Art Space Kenya Gallery, Nairobi. 2016: 1:54 Contemporary African Art fair, London. 2016: YIA Art Fair, Paris 2015 : Paper II Group show, Circle Gallery Nairobi. 2015: Kenya Art Fair, Nairobi |
Education2007-2009: Buruburu Institute of Fine Arts – Diploma in Fine Art (drawing and painting)
Workshops2018: Everyday objects drawing workshop with Lisa Milroy, One Off Contemporary Art Gallery, Nairobi.
2017: Intaglio print making with Wycliffe Opondo, Kuona Trust Art Center, Nairobi. |
David Thuku is exclusively represented in East Africa by One Off