Artists unite across generations in 'Dust to Form' exhibition

It was a full-circle moment and a fulfilled dream for the two visual artists, Patrick Mukabi and Jimmy Kitheka, as they held their first joint exhibition.

Titled ‘Dust to Form’, the exhibition opened at the Ardhi Gallery last weekend and traces the path of mentorship through three generations of artists. The exhibition is a collaboration between the two artists: a mentor and his protégé. They then invited nine more artists whom they had mentored.

The exhibition features 59 charcoal paintings on canvas displayed on the gallery walls, as well as one installation piece of charcoal on cloth, which was created by the artists and suspended in the centre of the gallery.

The paintings captured daily life through depictions of people in ordinary settings, while some of them featured female figures to mark Mother’s Day that weekend. Patrick maintained his signature subject of women at the market but chose to render it in black and white in a piece like ‘Soko Soko’.

Patrick also explored the effect of bad politics, as seen in ‘Siasa Mbaya, Maisha Mbaya II’, where he portrays a troubled man through distressed charcoal lines around him and a sombre face. Apart from showing people going about their day in retrospective and quiet pieces, Jimmy painted a man aiming higher with a spear in hand in ‘Dream Catcher’. It is an homage to his mentor.

“Patrick always told me to aim higher and to make my work as valuable as the finest diamond,” Jimmy says.

In 2014, Jimmy was one of Patrick’s students at Dust Depo within the Kenya Railway Museum. He had met him through a fellow artist, Dickson Kaloki, at the GoDown Art Centre and quickly joined him at Dust Depo.

“I was doing sketches back then, and I told him that I hoped we would do an exhibition together,” Jimmy recalls.

He repeated the same words many years later at Patrick’s current studio at T-Mall in Nairobi, this time with a resolve.

The exhibition was to focus on working with charcoal, a medium that Patrick had taught him many years ago.

“Charcoal is easy to work with for art students who fear making mistakes. It can be wiped with a hand, and they can continue painting. It also teaches them to work in layers, and everything starts from sketches,” explains Patrick, an Eve’s Art Supply ambassador.

‘Dust to Form’ displayed growth, legacy, and bonds. A personal exhibition, he shared: “Sketching was how I could get close to his work. We both work with female figures and are inspired by everyday life.”

Jimmy learnt about charcoal, oil paints, and spray paints when he was under his wing. There is a blend of inspiration from his mentor and his personal innovation in Jimmy’s works. The use of charcoal was an inspiration from his mentor, while the expressiveness of it was his own.

“I became more confident and experimental in my work on my own. He encouraged me to keep on working. He also taught me how to use monochrome colours to get the light and the shadows, how to prime a canvas, and how to make canvas frames,” he says.

The nine other artists who are participating in this exhibition are Wama Njuguna, Trevor Nduni, Wakisha Wazome, Gavin Kendo, Ruth Muthoni, Benardette Moraa, Steve Ngugi, Tamilinus Anu, and Patricia Githae. Patricia’s portrait paintings are of a woman dressed in a blouse, a pair of comb-shaped earrings with strokes of gold paint around her. Gavin, Jimmy’s mentee, known for bold and vibrant works, went with subjects in monochrome form with minimal use of colours.

“This participation is not incidental – it is essential. It affirms the transformative power of mentorship and the boundless possibilities that emerge when guidance meets raw, unshaped talent,” say curators Santana Sino and Christine Oguna.

In the middle of the gallery is an installation, a charcoal-on-cloth piece created by all eleven artists.

“In this rare moment, seasoned painters exhibit together with sketch artists at the beginning of their journeys. Their authenticity shines through, not in isolation, but in harmony. ‘Dust to Form’ has transcended the traditional bounds of an exhibition, blossoming into a deeply collaborative experience that brings together generations, disciplines, and artistic spirits,” they said.

The exhibition is open for viewing at the Ardhi Gallery until June 1.