Hundreds of independent art and museum spaces were forced to close due to the Corona-Crisis. In this series we are celebrating the fantastic artistic events that are right now sitting behind closed doors. Take a look at Michael Armitage's solo exhibition at Norval Foundation and how he uses Lubugo, a bark cloth, as a substrate for his impressive paintings.
Michael Armitage, The Accomplice, 2019. Courtesy Norval Foundation, Cape Town
Accomplice brings together a series of eight paintings and nine preparatory ink drawings by Kenyan artist Michael Armitage created over a two year period beginning in 2017. Presented for the first time as a complete cycle, the catalyst for these works were events connected to the 2017 Kenyan General Elections. At the time, Armitage travelled to Uhuru Park, in Nairobi, to witness a major rally that was being staged by the country’s main opposition party. The observations made at this rally, in addition to images culled from social and broadcast media, are the basis for paintings that engage the Kenyan body politic. These perceptions, filtered through the artist’s oneiric vision, open up multiple narrative and conceptual possibilities.
Installation view of Michael Armitage: Accomplice at Norval Foundation. Courtesy Norval Foundation, Cape Town. Photo: Michael Hall, Cape Town.
Michael Armitage, The Fourth Estate, 2017. Courtesy Norval Foundation, Cape Town
Installation view of Michael Armitage: Accomplice at Norval Foundation. Courtesy Norval Foundation, Cape Town. Photo: Michael Hall, Cape Town.
Michael Armitage, Pathos and the twilight of the idle, 2019. Courtesy Norval Foundation, Cape Town
Installation view of Michael Armitage: Accomplice at Norval Foundation. Courtesy Norval Foundation, Cape Town. Photo: Michael Hall, Cape Town.
Michael Armitage, Mkokoteni, 2019. Courtesy Norval Foundation, Cape Town
Installation view of Michael Armitage: Accomplice at Norval Foundation. Courtesy Norval Foundation, Cape Town. Photo: Michael Hall, Cape Town.
Michael Armitage, The promise of change, 2018. Courtesy Norval Foundation, Cape Town
Installation view of Michael Armitage: Accomplice at Norval Foundation. Courtesy Norval Foundation, Cape Town. Photo: Michael Hall, Cape Town.
Michael Armitage, The promised land, 2019. Courtesy Norval Foundation, Cape Town
Installation view of Michael Armitage: Accomplice at Norval Foundation. Courtesy Norval Foundation, Cape Town. Photo: Michael Hall, Cape Town.
Michael Armitage, The Dumb Oracle, 2019. Courtesy Norval Foundation, Cape Town
Installation view of Michael Armitage: Accomplice at Norval Foundation. Courtesy Norval Foundation, Cape Town. Photo: Michael Hall, Cape Town.
Michael Armitage, The Chicken Thief, 2019. Courtesy Norval Foundation, Cape Town
Installation view of Michael Armitage: Accomplice at Norval Foundation. Courtesy Norval Foundation, Cape Town. Photo: Michael Hall, Cape Town.
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![(clockwise) Manyaku Mashilo, Passage to Prayer (detail), 2023. Credit: Hayden Phipps & Southern Guild Archives. Courtesy of the artist; Tatenda Chidora, Self isolation II, 2021. Ilford Gold fibre Pearl 290gsm, 102cm x 132cm. Courtesy of the artist; Anaïs Cheleux, Mas Maten, Guadeloupe, shot on digital camera, 2016. Courtesy of the artist; Glicéria Tupinambá, Manto tupinambá [Tupinambá Mantle], 2023. Courtesy of the artist. Foto: Glicéria Tupinambá; Elizabeth Catlett, African American, 2009, MUSEUM MMK FÜR MODERNE KUNST, © Elizabeth Catlett Family Trust / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2023, photo: Axel Schneider.](https://contemporaryand.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Bildschirmfoto-2024-12-19-um-21.08.13-320x200.png)
![(clockwise) Manyaku Mashilo, Passage to Prayer (detail), 2023. Credit: Hayden Phipps & Southern Guild Archives. Courtesy of the artist; Tatenda Chidora, Self isolation II, 2021. Ilford Gold fibre Pearl 290gsm, 102cm x 132cm. Courtesy of the artist; Anaïs Cheleux, Mas Maten, Guadeloupe, shot on digital camera, 2016. Courtesy of the artist; Glicéria Tupinambá, Manto tupinambá [Tupinambá Mantle], 2023. Courtesy of the artist. Foto: Glicéria Tupinambá; Elizabeth Catlett, African American, 2009, MUSEUM MMK FÜR MODERNE KUNST, © Elizabeth Catlett Family Trust / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2023, photo: Axel Schneider.](https://contemporaryand.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Bildschirmfoto-2024-12-19-um-21.08.13-480x300.png)
