Publisher's Synopsis
Paradise Edict highlights pivotal series by the British-Kenyan painter, Michael Armitage and positions his body of work within East African painting and sculpture of the 20th century.His wide array of subject matter ranges from the relationship between humans and animals, and political events in his native Kenya, to European landscape traditions in opposition to an East African understanding of nature.With large-format oil paintings on lubugo bark cloth, the British-Kenyan painter joins motifs and artistic traditions from Europe and East Africa in a variety of ways, upsetting visual stereotypes and an excepted balance of power in the process.The artist draws inspiration from political events, pop culture, folklore and personal memories, weaving these into mythically charged and dreamlike images.With the exhibition, Armitage celebrates his first major presentation in a museum setting and his first show in Germany.Published on the occasion of the exhibition, Michael Armitage: Paradise Edict at Haus Der Kunst, Munich (4 September 2020 - 14 February 2021), and at the Royal Academy of Arts, London (13 March - 6 June 2021).
