To me, the strongest and most inspiring artwork are those that tell the real truth. Artists that speak up through their worksabout the facts of their society – whetherthe good or the bad,are truely inspiring and impactful mainly because they do a brave thing.
Michael Soi is such an artist. The Kenyan lives and works in Nairobi and speaks out about the Nairobi he sees – both the good and the bad. His work has the traditional look of the artistic and pedestrian Barbershop art, which makes it all the more suited to express what Soi has got to say.
“My work mostly touches on issues related to the youth like fashion trends, music and life in general. I try to create an attitude of what you see might be what you get from it.”
– Michael Soi
Soi’s political and social observations are startlingly and starkly real when he puts it on his canvas. I hope that as he continues to work, we all Africans will see just how decadent and corrupt our usual course of life is going. Taking a look below:
Shop Soi’s artwork on African Colours and Saachionline. See more art work on Soi’s Facebook
Via Afriversal, with quotes from Soi’s interview with One
