Evans Mbugua

For Evans, the human remains at the center of his artistic approach, regardless of the creative tool he chooses to express himself. He paints, photographs and films hope, the joy of life, love, pleasure, sharing, pride, emotions … staging his life. The diversity and cultural mingling of different peoples feeds his curiosity towards the world.

Evans looks at our identities and their hidden faces. Privileging the portrait to celebrate his contemporaries, he uses glass and plexi-glass to sublimate his subjects with brilliance and reflections, while emphasizing human fragility.

There are two parts in Evans Mbugua’s works. The background of the painting resembles a fabric covered with stylized, repetitive patterns. These pictograms, the artist spots them in large cities like Paris, where he works, or Nairobi, where he was born. Above, on a plexiglass plate.

Ses dessins sont composés d’une myriade de petits points de couleur, qui changent la perception du spectateur : une tresse, des lèvres, des lunettes, se dégagent. « Mes personnages apparaissent et disparaissent du fond du tableau : c’est une métaphore du côté caché de chacun de nous », explique Evans Mbugua. « Ce qui est en jeu, c’est le dialogue entre ce que l’on veut montrer et ce que l’on veut cacher. »

Il s’impose depuis ces dernières années comme une des figures montantes du Pop art.