NAME: Ngugi Wanjiku
TITLE: Lock Down
MEDIUM: Acrylic on Canvas
DIMENSIONS: 142 x 136 cm
ARTWORK DESCRIPTION: The loneliness and sadness permeating the community streets, as they echo with the varying effects of lockdown.
ARTIST PROFILE: A product of the Wajukuu Art Project in Nairobi’s Mukuru area. Born in Nakuru in Kenya’s Rift Valley, Ngugi is a self-taught artist who grounds most of his work on daily activities occurring in his community, and most recently in this COVID moment.
Judges' Comment
This is a competition and not everyone can be a winner. We looked at a large body of work. In the established artist category alone, we saw about 140 pieces of work by various artists in different media addressing various subjects.
The works we include in the Judges’ Mention are works which, though not necessarily winners, set themselves apart. They stand out in their creator’s execution of the theme and approach to the subject matter.
These pieces demonstrate that the artists have thought clearly about their subject, and reflect a considered approach to medium, idea and presentation.
These artists have worked hard to respond to the theme, and to have the theme meet their own practice and interests in a way that does more than recount a certain idea or just narrate a basic notion of what Nairobi is. This work does more than simply play to our ideas of Nairobi. Each artist has put their best foot forward and deserve recognition for it.