Wangari Mathenge
By Stephanie Sporn
For centuries, painters have taken creative liberties when depicting their sitters’ attire, whether for sheer visual impact or to imbue their works with symbolic significance. This phenomenon, in which the artist doubles as stylist, has been the subject of recent solo shows, including exhibitions on Gilded Age master, John Singer Sargent, and purveyor of contemporary cool, Barkley L. Hendricks. Today, a new generation of sartorially savvy artists are leading the charge, capturing clothing to stunning effect – but rather than merely painting fashion, these women consider style as a means to convey notions of heritage, pride, and power.
Nairobi-born artist Wangari Mathenge considers Henri Matisse deeply influential on her practice. Mathenge, who splits her time between Nairobi and Chicago, is inspired by his patterning and layered interiors. ‘When I’m stuck, I look at Matisse, and I feel free,’ says the artist, who primarily situates her figures in domestic settings.
Mathenge is, however, hesitant to consider herself a painter of fashion: ‘I don’t watch runway shows. I don’t know what’s in season, but I do know I wear what I feel comfortable in.’ Despite her humble sartorial self-assessment, her eye for pattern is undeniable. ‘If I want a painting to be vibrant, I will think about print work. Especially if an item of clothing has a really beautiful or intricate print, I want to capture it.’
When Mathenge paints portraits, such as her ongoing ‘A Day of Rest’ series spotlighting domestic workers, she asks sitters to come as they are. ‘I do not feel that I have the liberty to change anything,’ she says, noting most of her work is an entirely different story. Anything is fair game to alter in order to create the most compelling composition. For example, in her 7-meter-wide painting Home Sweet Home (After Seurat, Manet and Pippin) (2023), a monumental, contemporized amalgamation of art historical tributes, only one of 12 figures (the woman holding an umbrella and facing the viewer) retained the print of her original dress – though the color, too, changed.
Typically, she or her partner serve as ‘stand-ins for a narrative… assuming a role like actors in a movie.’ She adds, ‘My work isn’t really about me. It’s about a woman who is in the diaspora who is similarly situated. I want the figures to be stand-ins for everyone.’ In her dynamic scenes, the purpose of diasporic material culture is twofold: a vehicle to deliver an ‘exploration of pattern and color’ and a physical manifestation of the ‘hybridity’ of Mathenge’s existence. Because Kenya was colonized by the British, the artist grew up around European-style interiors, and globalization, combined with her move to Chicago, further blurred cultural boundaries.
Ubiquitous in Kenya, colorful kanga and kikoi fabrics also feature in Mathenge’s paintings. Commonly tied around one’s waist to ‘protect your good clothing,’ these vividly patterned, rectangular cotton cloths gain new value in foreign contexts. ‘Many Kenyans use them to adorn their home to bring a little bit of your past into your present.’
Whether evocative of a painting’s mood or signifying one’s culture, clothing not only has a powerful presence in the work of Mathenge it is also embedded with deeply personal and universal messages.