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The Ascendants XVIII (She Is Here And So Are You) by Wangari Mathenge (Kenyan) - Oil on canvas / 2021 - Dallas Museum of Art (Texas) #womeninart #womanartist #art #oilpainting #WangariMathenge #womensart #femaleartist #DMA #DallasMuseumofArt #KenyanArtist #womenpaintingwomen #Kenyan #artwork
Kenyan artist Wangari Mathenge's “The Ascendants XVIII (She Is Here And So Are You)” was part of Mathenge's solo exhibition “You Are Here” at Pippy Houldsworth Gallery in 2021. The piece belongs to the artist's ongoing series in which figurative compositions explore hybridity across the continent and diaspora, reflecting on personal experience of movement between the two. This vibrant painting depicts a woman seated at a vanity, engrossed in reading a book. The scene is composed within a small room, likely a bedroom. The woman is positioned centrally, seated at a green vanity with a three-part mirror. The vanity is the focal point, and elements in the foreground and background are arranged to direct the viewer's gaze to the main subject. The framing is intimate, focusing on the woman and her immediate surroundings with patterned fabrics and pillows on the floor in front of the vanity adding depth and interest. The central figure is a mature dark-skinned woman wearing a reddish-orange headwrap and multicolored, patterned gown featuring a variety of vibrant and bold patterns and colors. The colors and prints reflect the artist’s African cultural influences. Lauded by Apollo Magazine, “(Women) in Mathenge’s explosively colorful domestic settings – replete with Kanga textiles and other signifiers of their subjects’ East African heritage – have agency, either contemplating themselves and their own thoughts or observing us, the viewer, with magnificent hauteur.” Mathenge was born in Nairobi, Kenya in 1973 and holds an MFA in Painting and Drawing from the School of The Art Institute of Chicago. Recent institutional exhibitions include Stretching the Body at Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Turin, and Black American Portraits, at LACMA, Los Angeles. Further collections include Nasher Museum of Art, NC; Weisman Art Museum, Minneapolis; Elie Khouri Art Foundation, Dubai; Christen Sveaas Art Foundation, Norway, and Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Turin.
March 9, 2025 at 4:00 AM
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“The Ascendants XIV (She is Here)” by Wangari Mathenge (Kenyan) - Oil on canvas / 2021 - Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University (Durham, North Carolina) #WomenInArt #WomensArt #WomanArtist #WomenArtists #WangariMathenge #Mathenge #art #BlueskyArt #KenyanArtist #NasherMuseumOfArt #WomenPaintingWomen
Kenyan artist Wangari Mathenge places this canvas within The Ascendants, her series on African diasporic life of interiors where objects mark time, place, and culture. Identity forms through surroundings like textiles, plants, books, and a headscarf set in place. Her family moved from Nairobi to London when her father worked for the Commonwealth Secretariat. Painted in 2021 and shown in her solo exhibition “You Are Here,” the work is both declaration and refuge. A Black woman sits in on a teal armchair patterned with lime-green leaves, her deep brown skin warmed by soft highlights. She lifts both hands to adjust a rust-orange hair braids, her gaze turned to the side as if listening to her own thoughts. Her dress is a bold patchwork of white, black, yellow, and red blocks, paired with red-and-black plaid tights that stretch across long, angled legs. Behind her, a dark teal curtain repeats tiny motifs like stitched signatures. To the left, a pale round side table holds a light-green mug, a small dark figurine, and a thick book titled “The African Lookbook.” A turquoise lamp rises behind the table, and a spray of magenta orchids climbs upward, surrounded by broad green leaves. A white brick fireplace peeks in at the far left. Potted plants anchor both edges of the room with cool greens on the left, purple-toned foliage on the right while a flowing rug below turns into a map of amber, green, and sea-blue forms. The scene feels domestic and ceremonial at once vis a private room made vivid through pattern, color, and careful presence. Nothing here is accidental: each object, cup, lamp, flowers, book, and sculpture are a chosen companion like a small archive of taste and belonging. Mathenge often critiques how “immigrant” is applied to some people while “expat” is reserved for white Western migrants, so she seeks “reclaiming and propagating” the term for African migrants. Color and composure do the rest for a presence insisting on dignity and home.
December 22, 2025 at 4:20 PM
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#wangarimathenge #thedallasmuseumofart dma.org/art/exhibiti...
Dallas Museum of Art
The DMA is one of the largest art museums in America, located in the nation's largest arts district in downtown Dallas.
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April 29, 2024 at 6:53 PM
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#BBC #wangarimathenge #inthestudio www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
The Documentary Podcast - In the Studio: Kenyan artist Wangari Mathenge - In the Studio: Kenyan artist Wangari Mathenge - BBC Sounds
Exploring the plight of female domestic workers in Kenya through art
www.bbc.co.uk
April 29, 2024 at 3:05 PM