Artists’ View Of Children’s Emotions And Culture
May 30, 2003
THEY are two different artists with two different styles. Perhaps the only thing that John Mary Mukiza and Paul Ndema share in common is the rich imagination depicted in their highly expressive art.
By Stephen Ssenkaaba
THEY are two different artists with two different styles. Perhaps the only thing that John Mary Mukiza and Paul Ndema share in common is the rich imagination depicted in their highly expressive art.
John Mary and Paul are exhibiting at Afri art gallery, Lugogo UMA show grounds. The exhibition started May 16 and runs up to June 15.
Deriving inspiration from children’s innocence, Mukiza has named his exhibition ‘Children.’
“I admire the way children freely express their emotions,†he says. He uses pencil and charcoal on paper to portray different moods of children. Some are smiling happily, others look pensive while others are sad. Some spot frightened looks, others look calm.
The brown and black shades of his pencil and charcoal contrast beautifully with the light green, yellow, orange and white background of the paper.
His portraits are simple. Using the hatching and cross-hatching techniques, Mukiza makes wise use of subdued colours and clear pencil lines, making his portraits eye friendly.
Also in the gallery is a collection of immaculately painted landscapes. Here, Mukiza brings Uganda’s climate to life using oil on canvass. He uses restrained colours like grey, black, brown and green to depict Uganda’s rich vegetation, nightfall and climate. These he tactfully contrasts with white, yellow and pink paint to indicate day light, the bright and the beautiful flora. Prices for each art piece range between sh120,000 and sh200,000. A few meters away from Mukiza’s portraits, is an image of an island filled with cowry shells. Its strong yellow denim surface gives it a subtle look. The piece named Shell Island belongs to Ndema, who uses distortion to put his messages across.
“I look at things differently and always want to portray them as such, Ndema says.
He employs mixed media of papier mache, copper wire, copper plates, beads, leather, cowry shells and cassava flour to portray the different aspects of the environment, religion, culture and social life in Africa.
He uses brown, blue, purple and orange hues which he contrasts with harsh backgrounds to create a strong visual impact.
Prices of Ndema’s pieces range between sh80,000- sh700,000 each.
Ndema says the exhibition is going on well, thanks to Daudi Karungi, the director of Afriart gallery.
Ends
THEY are two different artists with two different styles. Perhaps the only thing that John Mary Mukiza and Paul Ndema share in common is the rich imagination depicted in their highly expressive art.
John Mary and Paul are exhibiting at Afri art gallery, Lugogo UMA show grounds. The exhibition started May 16 and runs up to June 15.
Deriving inspiration from children’s innocence, Mukiza has named his exhibition ‘Children.’
“I admire the way children freely express their emotions,†he says. He uses pencil and charcoal on paper to portray different moods of children. Some are smiling happily, others look pensive while others are sad. Some spot frightened looks, others look calm.
The brown and black shades of his pencil and charcoal contrast beautifully with the light green, yellow, orange and white background of the paper.
His portraits are simple. Using the hatching and cross-hatching techniques, Mukiza makes wise use of subdued colours and clear pencil lines, making his portraits eye friendly.
Also in the gallery is a collection of immaculately painted landscapes. Here, Mukiza brings Uganda’s climate to life using oil on canvass. He uses restrained colours like grey, black, brown and green to depict Uganda’s rich vegetation, nightfall and climate. These he tactfully contrasts with white, yellow and pink paint to indicate day light, the bright and the beautiful flora. Prices for each art piece range between sh120,000 and sh200,000. A few meters away from Mukiza’s portraits, is an image of an island filled with cowry shells. Its strong yellow denim surface gives it a subtle look. The piece named Shell Island belongs to Ndema, who uses distortion to put his messages across.
“I look at things differently and always want to portray them as such, Ndema says.
He employs mixed media of papier mache, copper wire, copper plates, beads, leather, cowry shells and cassava flour to portray the different aspects of the environment, religion, culture and social life in Africa.
He uses brown, blue, purple and orange hues which he contrasts with harsh backgrounds to create a strong visual impact.
Prices of Ndema’s pieces range between sh80,000- sh700,000 each.
Ndema says the exhibition is going on well, thanks to Daudi Karungi, the director of Afriart gallery.
Ends