Longinos Nagila
Anunciation, 2016.
About:
Born in Kenya in 1986, Longinos Nagila is a young experimental multi media visual artist living and working in Nairobi. Primarily focusing on video art and the exploration of digital imagery, Longinos’ work is influenced by a deep love of early cinema and black and white photography, which he blends with paint and transferred images on paper and canvas. After graduating from the BuruBuru institute of Fine Arts, Nairobi in 2009 he studied documentary and film making at the Apulia Film Commission in Bari, Italy.
Objects of My Desire, 2016.
In a group of works called The technicians of the sacred executed in early 2016, Nagila explores the worlds of fashion and faith, exposing the irony of their co-existence in our 21st Century consumer-led society. Raising questions about what is sacred and what is profane and the shifting identities of these concepts, as well as the cultism of celebrity society and fashion, these works also question what is perceived to be authentic or traditional African through video and mixed media bi-dimensional work. In the video a huge nuclear cloud fills the screen, preceding split-screen juxtaposed images of western models showcasing major brands with black and white archival video images and stills of traditional African village people.
Paying homage to Baroque, 2015.
The radical contrast between concepts of contemporary Western and traditional African beauty and design also examines the role of Africa and the “Africa Rising” narrative, as well as tackling themes of cross-cultural contamination and fusion. In several works on paper, photo-transfer images of traditional people are stencilled together with logos advertising contemporary western fashion brands, often collaged by acrylic paints on backgrounds sporting the pattern of traditional African textiles.
The City and its People, 2016.
Caged Birds, 2015.
Questions about African production, African brands and their identity and their increased visibility on the international market subvert the conversation of Africa as a producer of raw materials and a receiver of goods. (text ArtLabAfrica)