be-com-ing
Onyis Martin - Kenya
Born in Kisumu, Kenya in 1987, Onyis Martin is a young painter and mixed media artist living and working in Nairobi whose practice is rapidly gaining national and international recognition.
"This body of work, I try to investigate how the spaces affect/influence the passing of individuals from one point of their life to another and how these spaces have already defined what one becomes and the standard of be-com-ing.
This process of becoming has been so institutionalized by the society that when the process breaks down, they don't know what to do.
I don't look at what is happening now as, it is not something that just began. It is something that has been ongoing in this for a very long time. So how can we be different? How can we be ourselves? How can we respect individuality within our own community?"
Onyis Martin |the Artist
Deeply connected to contemporary urban society, Martin’s paintings, sculptures and works on paper explore, portray and reflect on current issues affecting not only the African continent but the world as a whole.
Delving into global concerns such as human trafficking, migration, political and institutional corruption, repressive environments and displacement, Martin’s works also explore issues of freedom, communication, rapidly evolving technological information and consumerism.
Selected Group & Solo Exhibitions
- 2017 – Kerry Parker Civic Gallery, Adelaide, Australia (A Better World through Creativity)
- 2017 – Cape Town Art Fair, Cape Town, South Africa (Tomorrows/Today – Emerging African Art)
- 2016 – ArtLabAfrica, Nairobi, Kenya, (In Conversation – ‘Talking Walls’)
- 2016 – Circle Art Agency, Nairobi, Kenya (Freedom-Flight-Refuge)
- 2015 – Asni Gallery, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, (Here and Here)
- 2015 – Taiwan Art Fair, Taipei, Taiwan (Art Revolution Taipei)
From this Exhibition
Publications & Press
Frank Whalley - East African