Kenya born artist Michael Armitage is a painter based in both Nairobi and London. His current show Matrix 263 at BAM/PFA is a body of work reflecting on sexuality and gender stereotypes in Kenya. In the piece to the far right of the photo above, Armitage refers directly to Picasso's Les Demoiselles d'Avignon, yet changing the subject from women prostitutes to men known as "beach boys", described as "combing the beaches in Kenya looking for wealthy female, European patrons." All of Armitage's work refers to western art history, yet merges the western history with the history of Kenya and surrounding regions. For example, each painting is painted with oil paint on a stretched piece of Lubugo bark cloth, described as "a material harvested and prepared from trees in Uganda and turned into a sacred fabric, often used for making ceremonial garments for tribal leaders."
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