Michael Soi: Heaven Can Wait Two: Circle Art Gallery One

Michael Soi (Kenyan b. 1972) lives and works in Nairobi

Heaven Can Wait Two, 21 Jan – 25 Feb 2026

Soi’s practice functions as a visual diary of Nairobi, offering sharp satirical commentary on the city’s social, economic, and political realities. His work examines relationships - intergenerational, interracial, and transactional - what he describes as the economics of love. Themes of commercial sex work, popular culture, globalization, and consumerism recur as lenses through which he interrogates contemporary urban life.

Heaven Can Wait is a body of paintings that captures these dynamics while embracing the cultural diversity of Nairobi. As a distinctly multicultural city, Nairobi absorbs influences from across the world, shaping how its residents socialize, celebrate, seek pleasure, and mark small victories amid persistent economic hardship. Soi situates these moments within a broader critique of what he describes as mediocre political governance and its contribution to social and economic precarity. In response, many city dwellers turn to immediate joys - celebrating fleeting successes as acts of survival and resistance.

In this series, heaven operates both as a moral benchmark and an ultimate life goal, allowing Soi to expose the paradoxes of human behavior. While individuals profess belief in transcendent ideals, their actions frequently contradict these values. Moral responsibility is deferred, with immediate gratification prioritized over ethical consistency. The work also explores the uneasy but pervasive relationship between economic struggle and the pursuit of pleasure - a tension that is particularly visible in Nairobi’s urban landscape.

Biography:

Michael Soi studied Fine Art and Art History at the Creative Arts Centre in Nairobi before joining the Kuona Trust’s Museum Art Studio in 1996. Soi has participated in numerous workshops and artist residencies and has exhibited extensively both locally and internationally. His work enjoys a strong global following among collectors and enthusiasts. He is the recipient of the Second Prize at the Manjano Competition and Exhibition (2011), was a finalist in the Kenya Constitutional Amendment Award (2000) and received the Top Forty Under 40 Award (Visual Arts Category) in 1999. Working from his studio at the GoDown Art Centre in Nairobi, Soi continues to produce and exhibit work that critically engages with contemporary urban life, securing his position as one of Kenya’s most influential contemporary artists.

Ó Thom Ogonga (2025)