@circleartagency

At home with Cairo-based Sudanese artist Salah Elm

At home with Cairo-based Sudanese artist Salah Elmur (@salahelmur) and a little glimpse into a work in progress

Artwork in the final image is The Factory People (2020)

#SalahElmur #VirtualStudioVisit #CirleArtGallery #SudaneseContemporaryArt #AfricanContemporaryArt #ArtAtHome #artinthetimeofcorona

As Circle remains closed in keeping with measures

As Circle remains closed in keeping with measures to prevent further spread of Covid19, you can continue to interact with us online. ⠀
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Our current show/ Art Dubai online presentation is available to view via the link in our bio, on @artsy, and on our website. ⠀
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Stay safe everyone⠀
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#CircelArtGallery #NairobiContemporary #TahirKarmali #SalahElmur #KenyanContemporaryArt #SudaneseContemporaryArt #ContemporaryAfricanArt #stayhomestaysafe

Portrait of the artist at work. Here's Henry 'Mzil

Portrait of the artist at work. Here's Henry 'Mzili' Mujunga (@henrymujunga) striking a pose in the garden outside his studio in Kampala, Uganda. Now we can see where the lush flora comes from in his new paintings. Keep safe and keep making your gorgeous paintings Mzili. .
#HenryMujunga #HenryMziliMujunga #CirleArtGallery #artinthetimeofcorona

Solo studio mischief courtesy of Cyrus Kabiru (@ck

Solo studio mischief courtesy of Cyrus Kabiru (@ckabiru).
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Some artists have been sharing with us images of themselves in their corners of the world, and how they're doing social distancing.
We'll be sharing more of these as they come
#StayHomeStaySafe

Cosy corners for some of our favourite artists in

Cosy corners for some of our favourite artists in the homes of some of our favourite collectors.

1. Salah Elmur (@salahelmur)
2. Dawit Abebe (@dawit_1_abebe)
3. Elias Mung'ora (@mungoraelias)
4. Dawit Abebe (@dawit_1_abebe )

Click the link in the bio to view new works by Salah Elmur

#CircleArtGallery #AfricanContemporaryArt #CircleArtAtHome #HomeIsWheretheArtIs #SalahElmur #DawitAbebe #EliasMungora #stayhome

A happy and curious collector getting to know her

A happy and curious collector getting to know her new acquisition, Donald Wasswa's (@waswad_) Omutaka Lugemwa (2019), recently shipped from Nairobi to the USA, unpacked after a short quarantine.

#DonaldWasswa #UgandanContemporaryArt #CircleArtGallery #UgandanSculpture #AfricanContemporaryArt #CircleArtAtHome

Delighted to see Guillaume Bonn (@guillaumebonn) f

Delighted to see Guillaume Bonn (@guillaumebonn) featured in the just-released Africa State of Mind: Contemporary Photography of a Continent by Ekow Eshun (@ekoweshun)⠀
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"Africa State of Mind gathers together the work of an emergent generation of photographers from across the continent, exploring Africa as a psychological space as much as a geographical one. Both a summation of new photographic practice from the last decade and a compelling survey of the ways in which contemporary African photographers are engaging with ideas of "Africanness," Africa State of Mind is a timely collection of those photographers seeking to capture the experience of what it means to "be African."⠀
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With over 300 photographs by more than fifty photographers, Africa State of Mind is a mesmerizing survey of the most dynamic scenes in contemporary photography and an introduction to the creative figures making them.⠀
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#GuillaumeBonn #EkowEshun #AfricaStateofMind #ContemporaryAfricanPhotography #MosquitoCoast

Lovely shot of Rehema Chachage's (@rehemachachage)

Lovely shot of Rehema Chachage's (@rehemachachage) exquisite photographs from Beloved (An Ode to Mkunde), 2019, all together in their new Cape Town home.
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#RehemaChachage #CircleArtGallery #CircleArtAtHome #InvestecCapeTownArtFair #ArtInHomes #TanzaniaContemporaryArt #ContemporaryAfricanPhotography #AfricanContemporaryArt

26th March 2015 was the first day of #ConcerningTh

26th March 2015 was the first day of #ConcerningTheInternal, the first exhibition at Circle.⠀
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The exhibition gave space to 20 artists chosen for their diverse interrogation of profoundly individual, internal concerns, featuring video, installation, painting and drawing that communicate each artist’s innermost thoughts, experiences or desires. In the show broader narratives about shared human experiences were counter-balanced by intimate, personal stories. Uniting the artists was an ability to draw the viewer into a reflective space, and allow insights into the artists’ most personal concerns.⠀
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Featured artists were Dawit Abebe (@dawit_1_abebe), Maral Bolouri (@maralbolouri) , Delphine Buysse (@atldel_), Rehema Chachage (@rehemachachage), Eltayeb Dawelbait (@eltayebdawelbait), Naomi Wanjiku Gakunga (@naimowanjikuart), Diana Kamara, Wambui Kamiru (@wambuikamiru), Zihan Kassam (@zihanherr), Jackie Karuti (@jackiethe3rd), Wanja Kimani (@wanja.kimani), Syowia Kyambi (@syowia_studio), Ato Malinda, Sibylla Martin, Kerttu Maukonen, Paul Onditi (@paulonditismokey), Souad Abdelrasoul (@soadabdelrasoul), Ephrem Solomon (@epherem_solomon), Xavier Verhoest, and Beatrice Wanjiku (@bwanj).⠀
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#ConncerningTheInternal #CircleArtGallery #Nairobicontemporary #EastAfricanContemporaryArtists

New works by NYC-based Kenyan artist Tahir Karmali

New works by NYC-based Kenyan artist Tahir Karmali (@tacaka) are live on the @artdubai online presentation.⠀
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“Paradise is at the feet of the mother.” – Prophet Mohamed ﷺ⠀
Living away from home for so long has somehow made me feel that who I am and where I come from appear like a fantasy. However, there are moments when the humidity, the greenery, the air, and the sun would match a certain memory – and with a deep breath, I am transported to a time long passed. This lets me know it was real that my life was real. It feels like a glimmer of paradise, an unattainable ideal, a warm embrace. In this series, I wanted to create this feeling using color to distort the screen printed image against the dyed raw canvas. The effect of this pairing allows the image to be understood in the distance and abstracted the closer you come to the canvas. Similar to waking from a dream about home and how it disappears when you try to get close to it.⠀
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The images are photographs of my mother in Seychelles, her home country, taken by my father. The decision to use them was inspired by the Hadith (saying from the Prophet Mohamed ﷺ) and the idyllic landscape of my mothers home. These works are made from cruelty-free organic canvas that are stained with natural dyes then screen printed with the least environmentally invasive techniques.
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Artwork 1:Paradise #8, 2019, Acrylic screen print on organic natural dip dyed canvas, 167.64 x 99.1 cm
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Artwork 2: Paradise #4, 2019, Acrylic screen print on organic natural dip-dyed canvas, 167.6 x 99.1 cm⠀
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#ArtDubai2020 #ArtDubai #TahirKarmali #CircleArtGallery #TahirKarmaliParadise #KenyanContemporaryArt

Designing the gallery interior, getting ready to o

Designing the gallery interior, getting ready to open in early 2015⠀
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#CircleArtGallery #ExhibitionBuildUp #NairobiContemporary

Gor Soudan's (@gor.soudan) Join The Dots, Septembe

Gor Soudan's (@gor.soudan) Join The Dots, September - October 2015, was the first solo exhibition in the gallery. ⠀
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Gor Soudan's works in the show sought to "dissect the evolving contemporary city space we occupy, the rapid urbanisation currently taking place globally and in particular in Nairobi and the destruction of our natural environment. It is an ongoing conversation interrogating this industrialization and its environmental impact, it is not intended as a result, but is an ongoing process with a life of its own." - Thom Ogonga (@ogongathom)⠀
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#GorSoudan #CircleArtGallery #JoinTheDots #NairobiContemporary

The Art Dubai (@artdubai) online catalogue goes li

The Art Dubai (@artdubai) online catalogue goes live today (March 24)! Be sure to check out new works by Salah Elmur, @salahelmur, and Tahir Karmali, @tacaka, as well as Longinos Nagila who was one of the participants of the Art Dubai Residents programme this year. ⠀
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Image 1: Salah Elmur, Scattered Thoughts, 2019, Acrylic on Canvas, 185 x 185cm⠀
Image 2: Tahir Karmali, Paradise #5, 2019, Acrylic screen print on organic natural dip-dyed canvas, 168 x 99 cm⠀
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#CircleArtGallery #ArtDubai #TahirKarmali #SalahElmur #ArtDubai2020

While the global COVID-19 pandemic has forced us t

While the global COVID-19 pandemic has forced us to slow some of our everyday activities, we are taking this time to reflect on our story so far. This week marks five years since the opening our gallery space, and we'll be sharing posts and stories of some of the highlits of our journey throughout this week. If you have any stories you would like to share, post and tag us or DM us, and we will share in our stories all through the week.⠀
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We begin with view of Xtract | Subtract | Abstract, our first-ever pop-up exhibition, held for a week in May 2013 on the ground floor of the then just-opened Delta Towers in Nairobi. The exhibition featured large scale abstract works by Justus Kyalo, Sibylla Martin, Michael Wafula, Jason Corder, Emily Odongo, Sidney Mang’ong’o, Xavier Verhoest and Peter Walala.⠀
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#CircleArtGallery #XtractSubtractAbstract #NairobiContemporary #CircleArtAgency #AbstractionInKenya #JustusKyalo #SibyllaMartin #MichaelWafula #JasonCorder #EmilyOdongo #SidneyMangongo #XavierVerhoest #PeterWalala

In light of the current situation, and keeping wit

In light of the current situation, and keeping with detectives on public gatherings, we're closing the gallery and will operate on an appointment-only basis until further notice.
Please feel free to check out our website, Artsy, and our social media where works by our gallery artists are available.

Salah Elmur & Tahir Karmali's works will be on view during this time. Call or email us to set an appointment, and follow us online for updates and what's going on with us.

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