Maina Boniface

Kenya

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Maina Boniface - Video


Boniface’s painting is purely musical, which makes me think that Boniface paints with a baton or, better yet, he doesn’t actually paint, he composes. The rhythm is everywhere, in every shape, colour, texture, brushstroke. The composition abides by properly defined lines of force, conceived in such a way that it makes our eyes go through them cyclically, amplifying and exposing their cadence.

Boniface’s painting is extremely harmonic, with rather subtle details that set an enchanting rhythm. The colours are strong and vibrant and they have a bright energy. His figures and instruments vibrate and distort themselves as sound passes them by.

As a matter of fact, several elements of his painting, which are recurring motifs, establish bridges in a clear allusion to sound and, more specifically, to music. The distortion of the bodies and limbs is carried out with an exquisite tenderness, the figures attain an enormous expressivity, emphasising their feelings.

His anatomical drawing is subject to formal and functional changes: the extremely long hands and necks that remarkably lengthen their ability to play their instruments.  The models are encircled by a gracious and alluring atmosphere, deeply absorbed and imbued by the action. The heads are slightly dislocated from the neck axis, fostering a feeling of sensitivity that highlights the overall mood. The tapered face, with overblown jaws and a tiny cranium, is something that puts more emphasis on sensorial and cognitive functions and not so much on the rational ones. Most of the times, the eyes happen to be closed or are just invisible, with the most predominant senses thus being hearing and touch. His figures seem to have extrasensorial characteristics, magically creating a musical atmosphere that enthrals them and pleases the audience.

By Pedro Boaventura • Excerpt from Masters of Painting - Volume 1



 
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Born in Kenya in 1987, Maina Boniface is one of Kenya's fast rising emerging artist living and working in Nairobi- Kenya. He attended junior school and high school in the same town. In 2006, he attended YMCA Training Institute-Nairobi to study Art and Design where he graduated with a diploma. Maina gained interest in drawing and painting with acrylics being his favorite medium for painting. He is inspired by human reactions and his daily encounters which he shows with his surrealistic figures. Maina is currently experimenting with a combination of abstract and surrealism. With a touch of imagination, he says, he gets to express humanity in an extra-ordinary way and this is evident in his subjects.

Maina is founding member of Brush Tu Art Studio and Discovered Artistic Talents (DArTs). He is represented by Diani Beach Art Gallery and Gallery Glocal Art.
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• 2013 Russian Embassy- Nairobi

• 2013 Kenya National Museum- Nairobi (Group Show)

• 2013 UNRC- Nairobi

• 2013 Gallery Glocal Art, Thorup Denmark (Solo Show)

• 2012 Kenya National Museum, Nairobi Kenya

• 2012 One-Off Gallery, Nairobi Kenya

• 2011 Lily Pond Art Gallery, Nanyuki Kenya

• 2011 Cycles of Life, Café des Arts, Nairobi

• 2010 Afro Inspiration, Italian Institute of Nairobi

• 2010 Unveiling Africa, Alliance Francoise de Nairobi



Art Fairs:

• 2011 The German Charity Christmas Bazaar, Nairobi

• 2011 GC23 Summit and Art Fair, UN Headquarters
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• 2013 Kenya Arts Diary

• 2013 The Saturday Nation

• 2012 The Daily Nation

• 2011 The Star

• 2010 The Standard
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