Galerie AMASAKA makes its space available to three talented artists for the full expression of their contemporary artistic knowledge. Until August 15, 2023, visual art lovers can explore the expanding artistic boundaries of Ethel Aanyu, Olivia Mary Nantongo, Allan Kyakonye through the exhibition “Echoes”. A presentation that reveals the artistic method intrinsic to each of the artists, drawing on their own bodies and biographies as subject matter and site of experimentation.
The artists exhibiting at Galerie AMASAKA presents through “Echoes” a singular reflective work in line with their respective personalities.. Like a tapestry of digital layers, Ethel Aanyu unveils striking photographic compositions heresiastically superimposing positive and negative black-and-white images. The artist’s captivating self-portraits substitute him for a figure of contemplation, linking vulnerability and resilience, care and healing. Ethel Aanyu‘s work demonstrates the profound complexity of the human experience and the perpetual dynamics that make us who we are.
On her own level, Olivia Mary Nantongo transcends the boundaries between photography and painting, figure and ground, through patterns and textures as complex as they are singular. She captures the audience’s attention as they devote themselves to determining the direction of her focused gaze. Is it directed at them, or is it turned into empty space? Like a sphinx, Olivia Mary Nantongo is ready to rush at any moment towards her self-constructed path. She redefines narratives around representation, identity and power, deploying and asserting her self-image with unwavering mastery.
Allan Kyakonye incorporates a particular imprint of his personal journey into his artistic creations. From an early age, the artist collected aluminum foil, intending to sell it to scrap merchants and reuse it in his creations. Today, from his burnt and discolored aluminum foil fragments emerge faces with blurred features from Allan Kyakonye‘s mixed-media works.
Blurred, enigmatic faces are presented on whimsical backgrounds, creating a vibrant interplay of materials, as well as miniature portraits in the effigy of medallions, which are then wrapped around one of the figures, reminiscent of a floating family tree, leading to an exploration of ancestry and lineage. Using this basic material, these works make hidden allusions to one’s biography and personal history.
In “Echoes“, artists Ethel Aanyu, Olivia Mary Nantongo and Allan Kyakonye present a reverberation of themselves, mirror images, not just a representation of what is, but also of what is not, and what is in the process of becoming. A resonance of bodies that centralize inner and outer transcendences around bonds of kinship, states of mind, environment, histories, the unstable notion of identity, relationships with others and everyday life unveiled at Galerie AMASAKA.