One Off is hosting two exhibitions this month - 'Prints' and 'That Which Divides'
Prints
Limited Edition Iterations
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One Off is pleased to present
Prints Limited Edition Iterations Opens Sunday 3 April 2022
noon to 4pm Exhibition Run: Sunday, 3 April through 30 April 2022 Gallery open: Tuesday through Sunday from 10am - 4.30pm. |
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About the exhibition
A print is any work of art made in multiple iterations, created through a transfer process. There are many different types of prints and the process is constantly evolving, but the best-known techniques are etching, lithography, screen printing and woodcut. They are created by transferring ink from a matrix to a sheet of paper or any other material by a variety of techniques.
Traditional printmaking usually covers only the process of creating prints using a hand processed technique, rather than a photographic reproduction of a visual artwork which would be printed using an electronic machine; however, there is some cross-over between traditional and digital printmaking.
Almost all printmaking processes, with the exception of monotypes, have the capacity to produce identical multiples of the same artwork, which is called a print. Each print produced is considered an "original" work of art, and is correctly referred to as an "impression". However, impressions can vary considerably, whether intentionally or by accident. Multiple impressions printed from the same matrix form an “edition”. Since the late 19th century, artists have generally signed individual impressions from an edition and often number the impressions to form a limited edition; the matrix can then be destroyed/defaced so that no more prints can be produced.
Woodcut, a type of relief print, is considered the earliest printmaking technique. It was first developed as a means of printing patterns on cloth, and by the 5th century was used in China for printing text and images on paper. Woodcuts of images on paper developed around 1400 in Japan, and slightly later in Europe - these two regions are where woodcut has been most extensively used purely as a process for making images without text. In 15th century Europe, they were used for book illustrations before they attained the status of single leaf fine art prints made popular by Albrecht Dürer. It reached a high level of technical and artistic development in East Asia and Iran around the 17th century for both books and art. Japanese woodcut became a major artistic form, although at the time it was accorded a much lower status than painting.
The 20th century revolutionized printmaking with some of the most prolific artists, notably Edvard Munch, Emil Nolde, Franz Masereel, Max Beckman and Pablo Picasso continuing to use the medium, which came to appeal because it was relatively easy to complete the whole process, including printing, in a studio with minimal specialized equipment.
There are no clear records of when printmaking reached Africa. However, printmaking in the African continent got a lot of visibility during the second half of the 20th Century with artists like John Muafangejo, Bruce Onobrakpeya & Tayo Quaye gaining global visibility. More recently, Ugandan Theresa Musoke and the late Robino Ntila facilitated a series of technical workshops in the nineties that introduced many younger artists to printmaking.
Continued collaborations and peer-to-peer exchange with continental printmakers during the turn of the millennium saw printmaking locally grow exponentially. This is a period that saw the Kenyan art scene embrace the medium, and had even older artists revisit printmaking as an art form. Since then, further gains have been achieved by a select group of artists willing to push the boundaries of printmaking.
However, most people in the arts still view it as a secondary media. A cheaper option to painting and sculpture. Most still view oil painting on canvas as the ultimate, with works on paper coming in second, and works that are made in multiple editions (prints & photographs) coming at the bottom of the food chain. While photographs can be "consumed" on numerous platforms, prints belong in the fine art space but are unable to stake their claim on the podium because of prejudices that push it towards the craft market.
Phrases like, “But it’s just a print” or “They are supposed to be cheap” are still common where prints are involved. There is a need to sensitize people that prints are artworks equally as important as paintings, installations & sculptures. It is an arduous task that is sometimes hampered by rogue artists keen on making a quick buck by peddling their prints as cheap crafts while being insincere with the quantity of the edition.
This is an exhibition that celebrates prints and printmakers while embracing contemporary artworks using a technique that rarely gets prominence. It is also an initiative of diversifying the focal points of Kenyan art to include an informed appreciation and awareness of prints, by raising the profile of limited edition printmaking, while appreciating works by some of the most prolific printmakers locally, who over the years have grown, in both technical and intellectual ability.
Ogonga Thom (2022)
Traditional printmaking usually covers only the process of creating prints using a hand processed technique, rather than a photographic reproduction of a visual artwork which would be printed using an electronic machine; however, there is some cross-over between traditional and digital printmaking.
Almost all printmaking processes, with the exception of monotypes, have the capacity to produce identical multiples of the same artwork, which is called a print. Each print produced is considered an "original" work of art, and is correctly referred to as an "impression". However, impressions can vary considerably, whether intentionally or by accident. Multiple impressions printed from the same matrix form an “edition”. Since the late 19th century, artists have generally signed individual impressions from an edition and often number the impressions to form a limited edition; the matrix can then be destroyed/defaced so that no more prints can be produced.
Woodcut, a type of relief print, is considered the earliest printmaking technique. It was first developed as a means of printing patterns on cloth, and by the 5th century was used in China for printing text and images on paper. Woodcuts of images on paper developed around 1400 in Japan, and slightly later in Europe - these two regions are where woodcut has been most extensively used purely as a process for making images without text. In 15th century Europe, they were used for book illustrations before they attained the status of single leaf fine art prints made popular by Albrecht Dürer. It reached a high level of technical and artistic development in East Asia and Iran around the 17th century for both books and art. Japanese woodcut became a major artistic form, although at the time it was accorded a much lower status than painting.
The 20th century revolutionized printmaking with some of the most prolific artists, notably Edvard Munch, Emil Nolde, Franz Masereel, Max Beckman and Pablo Picasso continuing to use the medium, which came to appeal because it was relatively easy to complete the whole process, including printing, in a studio with minimal specialized equipment.
There are no clear records of when printmaking reached Africa. However, printmaking in the African continent got a lot of visibility during the second half of the 20th Century with artists like John Muafangejo, Bruce Onobrakpeya & Tayo Quaye gaining global visibility. More recently, Ugandan Theresa Musoke and the late Robino Ntila facilitated a series of technical workshops in the nineties that introduced many younger artists to printmaking.
Continued collaborations and peer-to-peer exchange with continental printmakers during the turn of the millennium saw printmaking locally grow exponentially. This is a period that saw the Kenyan art scene embrace the medium, and had even older artists revisit printmaking as an art form. Since then, further gains have been achieved by a select group of artists willing to push the boundaries of printmaking.
However, most people in the arts still view it as a secondary media. A cheaper option to painting and sculpture. Most still view oil painting on canvas as the ultimate, with works on paper coming in second, and works that are made in multiple editions (prints & photographs) coming at the bottom of the food chain. While photographs can be "consumed" on numerous platforms, prints belong in the fine art space but are unable to stake their claim on the podium because of prejudices that push it towards the craft market.
Phrases like, “But it’s just a print” or “They are supposed to be cheap” are still common where prints are involved. There is a need to sensitize people that prints are artworks equally as important as paintings, installations & sculptures. It is an arduous task that is sometimes hampered by rogue artists keen on making a quick buck by peddling their prints as cheap crafts while being insincere with the quantity of the edition.
This is an exhibition that celebrates prints and printmakers while embracing contemporary artworks using a technique that rarely gets prominence. It is also an initiative of diversifying the focal points of Kenyan art to include an informed appreciation and awareness of prints, by raising the profile of limited edition printmaking, while appreciating works by some of the most prolific printmakers locally, who over the years have grown, in both technical and intellectual ability.
Ogonga Thom (2022)
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About the Artists
Mandy Bonnell
Drawing is Bonnell’s primary means of enquiry and her work explores the cultural and artistic life within East Africa, focusing in particular on Lamu Island off the north Kenya coast. She works in Printmaking using traditional materials in etching and wood engraving. Her ongoing aim is to look at her identity and personal response to this link, both historical and contemporary between the UK and Kenya. Bonnell’s printmaking is therefore influenced by the culture and natural history of the Island.
Pattern making is central to this artist’s imagery and she prefers to work on an intimate scale; small objects such as insects, shells, small plants and seedpods can be drawn life size. Drawing within the format of a pattern helps her to understand and recognise how important nature is as a key to creativity. Bonnell looks and responds to pattern within the natural forms that she draws such as fractural pattern formation within nature as well as artists' textiles in Britain from 1945 such as Robin and Lucienne Day, Paolozzi, Sutherland and Moore and traditional and contemporary artists textile Kangas in Kenya. In African cultures verbal and visual arts often combine to reinforce and enrich one another. Proverbs and spoken narrative are used in unison with visual art forms providing complex systems of communication. |
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Mari Endo
Born on Sept.7, 1959 in Tokyo, Japan.
Mari Endo graduated from Kuwasawa Design School with a degree in visual design. She arrived in Kenya in 1988 to pursue cultural studies at Japan Africa Culture Interchange Institute. In 2007, she learnt printmaking from Mr. John Silver, one of the master printers in Kenya. After retirement, she now spends her days in Kenya doing various activities from printmaking, Japanese ink painting and teaching art. Endo has exhibited numerously in Kenya and also at the 6th Tokyo International Mini Print Triennial(2018), International Virtual Engravist Printmaking Biennial-Istanbul (2020). Her woodcut prints are included in their collections at Tama Art University Museum in Tokyo, Japan and China Printmaking Museum in Shenzhen, China. |
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Peterson Kamwathi
Peterson Kamwathi’s artistic practice has been on communal social, economic and cultural engagements in contemporary society. In his work he explores physicality, modes of behavior, embedded symbolism and likely meanings that can be extracted from human groupings, social customs and collective political/religious patterns.
Kamwathi’s work has been exhibited in numerous venues around the world and he was part of the Kenya National Pavilion at 57th Edition of the Venice Biennale in 2017. He has also participated in the Young Congo Biennale 2019 in Kinshasa, Congo DRC and the 8th edition of the AKE Art and Books Festival 2020 in Lagos. His work is included in the art collections of Safaricom, the British Museum, Bates College of Art Museum, The EAVAT collection, The World Bank Headquarters among others. He lives in Limuru, Kenya. |
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Patrick Karanja
Patrick Ndung’u Karanja is a dynamic artist exploring different media in fine arts. He trained in industrial design and fine arts.
His work is an attempt at depicting the different issues that impact on his practice and or society, and at times the world as a whole. These issues could be social, political, economic, or all at the same time, depending on the specific concerns at the given time; therefore he has never been keen on looking for his own signature style, but rather techniques and media that serve the desired functions. Born in Nairobi in 1990, he graduated with a degree in industrial design and fine arts of St Lawrence University, Kampala, Uganda, in 2013. He is a voracious reader of whatever educational literature he puts his hands on. He has exhibited in numerous exhibitions and is slowly creating a niche for himself in the art scene. |
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Abdul Kipruto
Born in 1993, Abdul Kipruto is an artist currently working as a member artist at Brush Tu Art studio in Nairobi. He studied and graduated with a B. A in Sociology and Religion and later decided to adopt art as a full time career, starting as an apprentice at Brush Tu art Studio.
He started as a painter but later decided to make a move into printmaking as his major practice. His favourite mediums of printing are Woodcut Printing and Screen Printing. Most recently he has started to work with metal in his sculptures. Kipruto has attended workshops and exhibited numerously in his home town of Nairobi. |
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Wanjohi Maina
Wanjohi Maina is a visual artist living and working in Nairobi, Kenya.
Born in 1986 , he started drawing early in life and later taught himself to paint. Maina is currently based at Kuona Artist Collective, formerly known as Kuona Trust Art Centre. His practice encompasses drawing, painting, and printing. Maina derives inspiration from his experiences living in a densely populated urban environment. With every work he creates, Maina strives to improve his craft and knowledge through research, workshops, exhibitions, artists’ discussions and residencies. “I am currently working on a body of work (series) that shines a spotlight on urban street vendors or hawkers (as they are commonly known in Kenya) who capitalize on the opportunity to fill the gap between products/goods and services with potential customers” Nairobi is a massive sprawling capitol city and there is always endless traffic in and out the city which in turn creates a ready market for hawkers to ply their trade. Their daily challenges have served as content for Maina’s body of work. He says that he feels a connection with these folk as he “hustles for space in traffic as I cycle my way to the studio… and probably if I wasn’t an artist, I would be hawking stuff as a street vendor.” Maina has exhibited numerously in Nairobi, Kenya and also at ART X, in Lagos, Nigeria. |
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Dennis Muraguri
Dennis Muraguri, b. 1980, Naivasha Kenya, is a Nairobi-based multidisciplinary artist whose practice spans the mediums of printmaking, sculpture, video and installation in varying combinations.
Muraguri has been gaining recognition for his imagery of matatus – privately owned vans and mini-buses that are the main mode of public transportation in Kenya - and the culture that has developed around them. Muraguri's woodcut prints reference both Nairobi’s urban culture and the international popular culture of graffiti, music and politics depicted on these real life matatus. Muraguri received a Diploma in Painting and Art History from the Buruburu Institute of Fine Art (2015), and has been a resident artist at the Kuona Artists’ Collective (formerly the Kuona Trust Art Centre) since 2005. He has exhibited extensively in Nairobi, including a solo exhibition at Circle Art Gallery, 2016, Jua Kali, 2014, a collaborative installation with Tahir Karmali and Tonney Mugo which went on to be included in Making Africa: A Continent of Contemporary Design at the Vitra Design Museum. He has participated in international art fairs such as 1:54 Contemporary Art Fair, London, 2016, and the Jo’burg Art Fair, 2016. Muraguri was also one of the participating artists in the 2014 edition of the KLA Public Art Festival, in Kampala, Uganda and was the artist in residence at Espaço Luanda Arte, in Luanda, Angola in 2019. |
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James Mweu
James Mweu is a gifted Dancer, Photographer and Choreographer based in Nairobi. He initially trained as a sculptor at the Museum Art studio, Kuona Trust. Subsequently, his creative expression examines the status of displacement brought about by shifting cultural and social structures. He has toured and exhibited locally and internationally and continues to collaborate with other artists in realizing new creations. |
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Thom Ogonga
Born (1975) in Nairobi, Kenya, Thom Ogonga is an artist whose specialty is in painting and printmaking. He 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 inspiration for his work.
Ogonga is also the founder, artistic director and publisher of Nairobi Contemporary; an artist led platform commentating and contributing to the discourse of the local and regional art practice. He has exhibited widely, featured in numerous public art projects and artist residencies, both locally and abroad. |
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Exhibition openings are usually on the last Saturday of every month, excluding December. The gallery remains open on Sundays allowing anyone who missed the opening to catch the exhibition the next day. Do join our mailing list so we can send you an invitation.