Posts

Discussing portrait surrealism

Image
Portrait surrealism has been explored by many artists significantly: Giuseppe Arcimboldo, Salvador Dali and Frida Kahlo. Although records insist that this art movement was pioneered by André Breton in 1924, it has been long in existence before André Breton simply put a name to it. Giuseppe Arcimboldo created faces made of fruits, vegetables, books, and flowers in the 1500s way before 1924. The only core difference was that by the early 1900’s the goal shifted from painting objects to fusing the human mind and the subconscious with reality. While other artists focused on the skin and outlook of their model or reference. Surrealists explored emotions, mood and structure and applied metaphorical objects in place of plain body parts. Visual wit, symbolism and allegory were also adopted. Vertumnus by Arcimboldo (c. 1590–1591 ) https://en.wikipedia.org Vertumnus (Arcimboldo) The Librarian by Arcimboldo (c. 1566) https://en.wikipedia.org The Librarian (Arcimboldo) In photography, photographe...
Post a Comment
Read more

Art commentary on @Aduratheartist's new artworks "Echoes of the past, Fear of the unknown"

Image
  Indeed, I agree with Oscar Wilde that “Life imitates art far more than art imitates life.” Life cycles around the past, the present and the future. So when @aduratheartist titles his two recent artworks “Echoes of the Past, Fear of the Unknown..” It is quite relatable. In both digital paintings, a young lady is used as the model and her skin colour depicts past and present. In the first painting “Echoes of the past” she's painted in black and white with her eye, lip, ear, hair and neckline painted in colour. The little butterfly earring on ear made me think “oh she was quite happy when she was younger”.  A look at the second “fear of the unknown” brings many questions to my mind. On her neck is a locket showing her and her baby and her husband perhaps. She's in full colour but one of her eyes is painted in grey and teary and her earring is a simple grey stud. She was currently young and blooming but the future seemed quite a mess. So yeah, the future isn't sure it's c...
Post a Comment
Read more

Evaluating beauty as a commodity featuring Lucid's artwork : "The material girl" - Evolution of the Atlantic slave trade.

Image
  Hi, today I'm evaluating beauty as a commodity featuring Lucid's artwork : "The material girl" I'm going to start with the fact that I've deleted so many lines at the beginning of this blogpost. I typed beauty is free and deleted it but yunno on a second thought Kahlil Gibran agrees with me that beauty is free when he says  “Beauty is not in the face; beauty is a light in the heart. “  Well, we seem to have forgotten the lights in our hearts and we're in search of this same light in stores and brands and social media filters. Lucid actually illustrated this upside down search for our own beauty in the wrong places in his painting “The material girl ( beauty is now sold as a commodity)” . The lady in this painting is on a vogue cover, a cute Gucci bag, red lipstick, jewelries on her wrist. Click to follow lucid on X Right under all of the glam is a pop up asking us to start an auction. According to Google: An auction is a public sale where goods, property...
Post a Comment
Read more

Nairobi Design Week 2026: Highlights, Insights & My Take

Image
  Right at the heart of Kenya, Nairobi Design Week ran from March 7 to March 15, 2026 and here’s my review. I'm going to start with the theme: Let's be human together .  On the NDW website  Visit the Nairobi Design Week website , the theme viewed human experience as the future of design and art in a rapidly changing world. I loved the perspective because I certainly believe human experience is and will become the most essential commodity in the art industry in the next few centuries because the human mind isn't trained to adopt automation. In my perspective, AI art kinda skips the essential process of experiencing each brush stroke, line and colour mixing and layering. It only aims for perfection.  This event caught my attention because it places human experience at the center of art, something we need to be constantly reminded of. It was hosted across four locations: Diba Studios, Ngara, Alliance Française Nairobi, and Goethe-Institut Nairobi, all of which are well ...
Post a Comment
Read more

4094- Robots in charge. My Uber Driver was in a bubble and so was I.

Image
I woke up in a Google play store. Not the app on my phone, the actual place. Icons hovered above me like constellations. My pillows and bedsheets were gone. I stood, still bewildered and staggered into a towering shelf and all the icons came crashing down on me. A robotic laugh oozed from the intercom.  Wait, someone is watching?  I brushed past the fallen icons.  “Can anyone tell me what is going on?” I yelled so loud but my voice only echoed, no reply. A TV flickered on and the first breaking news headline clamored “4094- Robot era: Robots now in charge of the world” . Wait what? Many experts had called this impossible. How could it have happened? The same voice from the intercom spoke again  “Welcome human, here's your quest for today: In this storeroom, you can only travel in bubbles and request a ride from just one app. You may extract your bubbles from any photograph or artwork that contains one.”  My heart skipped but almost instantly I remembered two sou...
Post a Comment
Read more

Hi, so I didn't buy flowers - a poem

Image
  Hi,  so I didn't buy flowers, petals aren't a price tag for love I think, I thought of places you've never been, You've been to my soul, the chapbook office where I keep my poems, the garden, the bustling city - of course you drive through that everyday, your house with the brown door. I've watched peter-pan together with you, and we've wished upon ourselves  that our hair turns grey but our love must not become stale. must ! - I'd add an exclamation here. We've laid our backs on the grass and we've shaken our feet to the stars, all these we've done every Valentine and every other day. I thought of what universe your soft ribs haven't given an abode. Dear, I thought of a painting, Rainy Day by Gustave Caillebotte, Two simple souls under an umbrella her arms in his, walking gently on that Paris street. I desire to take you to the art gallery to see the art, a young artist on my street painted something like it and I want us to go there under...
Post a Comment
Read more

If Harmattan was a celebrity, I wouldn't be a fan. An art commentary on two artworks by Jekphrasa and @Justmhide on X

Image
  Yesterday, the first rain fell. I think harmattan is gone. It was slow to come and quick to leave. The mornings are no longer cold or misty. Whew! I survived. If Harmattan was a celebrity, I wouldn't be a fan. My skin gets dry, crisscrossed lips, my nose feels like I'm breathing through foam, my under feet looks patchy, scaly and horrible and everywhere is dusty. So I want to ask Mhide if the lady in her artwork also experiences these things too?  Harmattan by @Justmhide Her eyelashes seem to wage war against dryness though. Lol. Usually my first thought of Harmattan won't be “beautiful” but this painting makes Harmattan feel so gentle. I'd call the blue flower the sky‑blue plumbago which blooms during Harmattan in Africa, a representation of beauty in dust and dryness, hope and calm. source :  https://toptropicals.com/pics/garden/m1/Raznozwet9/Plumbago_auriculata_2046_flowers_.jpg  The flower seems boring to her though ‘cause she isn't even looking at it. She...
Post a Comment
Read more