Ocula Advisory present a selection of their favourite works on view among the 255 gallery presentations at Art Basel OVR: Miami Beach, running from 2 to 6 December 2020. They begin with Wangari Mathenge at Pippy Houldsworth Gallery.
Kenya-born, U.S.-based artist Wangari Mathenge often paints her figures in domestic settings, at ease with their surroundings and amidst home comforts that reveal the complexities of African diasporic identity.
The Ascendants IX (Just Like My Parents' House, I've Become Visitor) (2020) is exemplary of Mathenge's vibrant and expressive style. Employing an array of colours and patterns, Mathenge encourages the viewer's eye to flit around the canvas.
The fabric draped over the coffee table—known as 'kanga'—originates from the coast of Eastern Africa and features in many of Mathenge's paintings. A Swahili proverb adorning the bottom of the fabric in this painting roughly translates to: 'the pleasure of parenthood overrides the need for possessions'.
