I Will See What I Want to See: Circle Art Agency

Jessica Atieno b. 1991

Jessica Atieno makes work as a continuous interrogation on the idea of space, with an interest in the performativity of human interaction as it plays out in shared physical, virtual and psychological spaces. Atieno has shown her work locally and internationally, with exhibitions in Nairobi, Addis Ababa, Luanda and Hamburg. She is an alumnus of the Asiko Art School (Addis Ababa, 2016) and the Jackman Goldwasser Residency, Hyde Park Center, Chicago USA. She is currently a participating artist of the Lagos Biennial, and in September of 2019 began an MFA in the printmedia program at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Jonathan Fraser b. 1995

Using space and the body as points of reference, Jonathan Fraser tries to understand the relationship between object, memory and image working in diverse media toward this end. Fraser attended Kenyatta University as part of the BFA program with a major in painting and sculpture. He is currently working as a studio assistant alongside his expanding multidisciplinary practice. His work has been exhibited variously in Nairobi and was a part of the 2017 Kenya Art Fair’s Wasanii Exhibition. He lives and works in Nairobi.

Peterson Kamwathi b. 1980

Kamwathi’s seemingly unremarkable figures are caught between sometimes static and sometimes dynamic states underscoring the place of communal ritual, activity and movement. Kamwathi’s work has been exhibited in numerous venues around the world including Kenya, the UK, the USA, Holland, Austria, El Salvador and Finland. He has participated in several residencies in Europe and the US.

Yaye Kassamali b. 19

Yaye Kassamali’s current work is a contemplation of life as an expat and the impressions we form upon people and places we come across while moving through the world. Home has become a broad concept for her and so the open hand acts as a symbolic action of reaching. With an equal and undying love for colour and existentialism, Kassamali seeks to carry some of her private discoveries into the public sphere by participating in exhibitions. Her work has been exhibited in ‘Women’s Art Empowerment’ in Kampala, ‘Indulgence’ in Nairobi, Close in Johannesburg and ‘Snakepit’ in Shanghai. She is currently based in Shanghai, China

Onyis Martin b. 1987

Onyis is a Nairobi-based artist whose works in painting, sculpture, installation and video. In his work, Martin engages with personal and collective memory, freedom and belonging and how these are influenced by social and economic transformation. Martin has participated in several local and international exhibitions and artist residencies, including be-com-ing, a solo at Red Hill Art Gallery in 2017; error: X, Ostrale Biennale, Dresden, 2016, and Still Here Tomorrow to High Five You Yesterday, Zeitz MoCAA, 2019.

Miska Mohmmed b. 1995
Miska Mohmmed works predominantly in acrylics, combining material experimentation with an exploration of the sensual experience of landscape. Mohmmed received a BFA in painting from Sudan University’s department of fine and applied art in Khartoum in 2016. She has participated in workshops and exhibitions in Kenya, Sudan, and Tunisia, including a joint exhibition at the Rashid Diab Arts Centre in Khartoum (2017), and Khartoum Contemporary, at the Circle Art Gallery, Nairobi, Kenya (2017). She was one of the artists included in the 2018 edition of the Art Auction East Africa and participated in, and painted murals for the Burrullus International Symposium in Cairo in 2019.

Anthony Muisyo b. 1993
Anthony Muisyo began working with image editing software in high school and quickly pursued its abilities for digital collage. Pulling from advertising, art and editorial photography, and archival images, Muisyo creates compositions that employ nostalgia and humour. Muisyo, is a practicing electrical engineer with a BSc in Electrical Engineering from the University of Nairobi. He lives and works in Momabasa, Kenya.

Elias Mung’ora b. 1992

Elias Mung’ora is interested in the political and economic history of Nairobi and how this history is reflected its present physical environment. Presently, he is examining the function of preserving and sharing memory from a domestic perspective and the place of the family album in his life. Mung’ora is a member of Brush Tu, a Nairobi-based artists’ collective, and has participated in several group exhibitions including Kikulacho, British Institute in East Africa, 2018; Remains, Waste & Metonymy II: Sensing Nairobi, British Institute in East Africa, 2017; Young Guns, Circle Art Gallery, 2017. Solo shows include Journal Entries, Little Art Gallery, 2016, and a solo exhibition at Polka Dot gallery in Nairobi. He was winner of the 2016 Manjano Art Prize in Nairobi, and a top ten finalist in the 2018 Absa L’Atelier competition.

Dennis Muraguri b. 1980

Dennis Muraguri explores urban culture and the remains of industrialization in Kenya. He is mostly recognized for his body of work inspired by ‘matatu’ (Kenyan minibuses and vans that are the main mode of public transport). In these works, he employs a range of approaches to look at urban culture of contemporary Nairobi. Muraguri, is a multimedia artist, based in Nairobi, working primarily in printmaking and sculpture. Muraguri graduated from Buru Buru Institute of Fine Arts with a diploma in Painting and Art History. He has been a resident artist at Kuona Trust Art Centre since 2005.

Sujay Shah b. 1991

Shah is interested in the absurdity of contemporary living and uses cartooning as a means of communicating that. Often using surreal narratives, he distorts, combines and reconfigures objects and figures as a way to highlight the wierd and often complemetary relationships between them. Sujay Shah, is currently living and working in Kenya. He graduated with a B.F.A in Painting from the Savannah College of Art and Design, Savannah, Georgia in 2013. After college, Sujay lived in New York working as a studio assistant for the artists Paul Bloodgood and Anne Chu. His work has been exhibited in the US (Savannah, Georgia and New York) and France (Lacoste). He has been featured in Ikea Home Living Magazine and is in the permanent collection of the Savannah College of Art and Design. He has also exhibited at the Kenya Art Fair.

Gor Soudan b. 1981

Gor Soudan’s practice shifts fluidly from the conceptual and the philosophical to the physical and sensual. In it mind and body are dynamically engaged in an exploration, through material labour, of the social and material interactions observed in the world around him. Soudan holds a BA in Philosophy and Sociology from Egerton University in Kenya. His work engages subtly with contemporary political and social issues. Soudan has exhibited in various countries including Kenya, Ethiopia, Mali, and Japan.

Lemek Tompoika b. 1988

Working predominantly in drawing, Lemek Tompoika’s work reflects a curiosity about public spaces, and the dynamics of human behaviour as they are shaped by collective knowledge and beliefs. Tompoika studied drawing and fine art at the Creative Arts Centre, Nairobi, and in 2013 took up a studio at Kuona Trust Art Centre to begin a full-time art practice. Tompoika has shown in several group exhibitions locally and internationally, including Young Guns, 2017; Identity, 2018; and In Between, a solo show in 2018. He has also participated in international, continental and national competitions as well as conducting workshops in Kenya.

Beatrice Wanjiku b. 1978

Beatrice Wankiju’s work is a constant probing of the human condition, delving into psychological issues and exploring the tension between external pressures and our internal state of being. Wanjiku graduated from Nairobi’s Buruburu Institute of Fine Arts in 2000 and lives and works in Kajiado, Kenya. Her recent exhibitions include, ‘Mourning a Memory’, Nairobi, Kenya (2018), VOLTA New York, Invitational Solo Presentation Project Fair (2017), USA The OSTRALE 2015, Dresden, Germany (2015). She is a recipient of the UNESCO Aschberg Bursary (2013); Lava Thomas and Peter Danzig Fellowship Award (2013); Robert Sterling Clarke Foundation Fellowship (2011)

Agnes Waruguru b. 1994

Agnes Waruguru’s work ranges from painting, drawing, printmaking, needlework and installation. The materiality of objects in space is at the core of her explorations, which are intimately rooted in personal identity politics, often referencing women’s practices and traditional cultural identifiers. Waruguru received a BFA from the Savannah College of Art and Design, USA. Her work has been exhibited in America, France and Kenya. She has participated in residencies in Kenya and Sydney, Australia and recently took part in the Saba Artists Residency in Lamu. Waruguru will be participating in the inaugural edition of the Stellenbosch Triennale, South Africa, 2020.