Wangari Mathenge
Wangari Mathenge is a contemporary visual artist based in Nairobi, Kenya; Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom; and Chicago, Illinois. Her multidisciplinary practice includes painting, drawing, ceramics, sculpture, animation, and installation. Her work explores African identity and culture, focusing on the experiences of Black women and reimagining the domestic sphere as a site of empowerment.
Education
Mathenge earned her MFA in Painting and Drawing from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2021. She previously studied at Howard University and Georgetown University Law Center, where she specialized in International Business and Economic Law.Artistic practice
Mathenge's paintings are characterized by intricate patterns and bold colors, drawing inspiration from East African textiles such as the Khanga. Her work incorporates cultural objects to explore gender roles and celebrate Black female identity across the African continent and diaspora.Exhibitions
Solo exhibitions
- 2023: A Day of Rest, Pippy Houldsworth Gallery, London
- 2023: Tidal Wave of Colour, Roberts Projects, Los Angeles
- 2021: You Are Here, Pippy Houldsworth Gallery, London
Selected group exhibitions
- 2025: The Human Situation: Marcia Marcus, Alice Neel, Sylvia Sleigh, Lévy Gorvy Dayan, New York
- 2025: Through Their Eyes: Selections from the Sandretto Re Rebaudengo Collection, Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art, University of California, Davis
- 2022: When We See Us: A Century of Black Figuration in Painting, Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa, Cape Town
- 2021: Black American Portraits, Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Public collections
- Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C.
- Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento
- Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Turin
- Rubell Museum, Miami
- Weisman Art Museum, Minneapolis
Publications and media coverage
- The New York Times : "100 Years of How Black Painters See Themselves"
- African Art Now by Osei Bonsu, Octopus Publishing Group
- Great Women Painters, edited by Alison Gingeras, Phaidon Press
- BBC World Service, In the Studio
- WNYC, All Of It with Alison Stewart