13 Years on
the Internet!
3,350+ Paintings Sold!
89+ Artists Represented, and Growing!
No Fixed Prices!
a
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13 Years on
the Internet!
3,350+ Paintings Sold!
89+ Artists Represented, and Growing!
No Fixed Prices! |
"We must all work
hard, with our hands, to save ourselves from poverty, ignorance, and
disease." Information gleaned from the banana-gallery website: Alex Mbugua was born in 1958, in Kirangari a small village in Kiambu district. In 1965 he joined Kirangari primary school and in 1978 he completed his form four in Kirangari secondary school. Mbugua is the fourth born in his family. Mbugua grew as a child interested in art since his whole family is artistic. In 1980 he joined Kenya Christian Training College where he graduated. His primary interests were in graphics, textile designs, interior and external decorations and screen-printinging. In 1994 the Banana Hill Art Studio influenced his decision to train almost exclusively in fine arts. By 1997 his first four paintings were displayed and sold my in the now-famous Gallery Watatu in Nairobi, Kenya. He did the first workshop with Banana Hill Art Studio under guidance of Shine in 1994. After teaming up with the group he has participated in many other workshops and cultural exchanges. In one of the exchanges he did his first sculpture title "two in one". He also did clay sculptures in a workshop within the community in the year 2002. The Banana Hill Art Studio has motivated him and inspired him a lot. Alex is a very active member of the Banana Hill Art studio. He has exhibited with the group since he joined, both in side and out side the studio and both local and international. His subjects are
diversified, but mostly he is inspired by an African woman in the society and
has rule in the community, using oil or assorted colors and sometimes works
with mix media. Mbugua has captured the seedy underbelly of life in downtown Nairobi, Kenya's capital city known to tourists as the Green City in the Sun. Like any city anywhere, it has its share of lively characters. Hookers, shady characters, vagabonds - all collecting on this dark corner of the street. Nobody looks particularly scary, just going about their business as they might on any night. The man in the phone booth (detail above), looks like he might be up to something, but there's a woman outside the booth listening in... I wonder what's inside his jacket? Update - 12 June 2006-The Mbugua's are sold out! His paintings are so unique that they attract a distinctive audience. They are global somehow, but also quintessentially African - surreal, yet evoke genuine emotion. I hope to find more of his paintings, they are truly wonderful!
24 October '05-Mbugua is an underground favorite! These are exceptional paintings. Very vivid and colorful with an excellent ethereal depiction of life in Africa.
If you are interested in purchasing any of
these paintings, please write down the painting's title, the artist, and the
cost, and go to the
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This is how it's done in Africa, why not the
internet?