Wangari Mathenge's "Re-membering" at Lévy Gorvy Dayan Revisits Kenya's Post-Independence Era
Wangari Mathenge's solo exhibition, "Re-membering," is currently on display at Lévy Gorvy Dayan in New York, running through October 24. Born in Nairobi, Mathenge's work reflects on Kenya's post-independence period following the country's liberation from British colonial rule in 1963. Inspired by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o's book "Something Torn and New: An African Renaissance," the series features imagined 1960s Kenyan domestic interiors, with Mathenge portraying herself as each woman depicted. Notable pieces include "Re-membering XII (The Wednesday Women's Club)" and "Re-Membering II (Facing Mt. Kenya)." The exhibition emphasizes the reassembly of cultural memory and history.
Key facts
- Wangari Mathenge was born in Nairobi and is the subject of a solo exhibition titled "Re-membering" at Lévy Gorvy Dayan in New York
- The exhibition continues through October 24
- Kenya declared independence in 1963 after nearly 70 years of British colonial rule
- The series is inspired in part by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o's 2009 book "Something Torn and New: An African Renaissance"
- Mathenge depicts herself as all of the women in the paintings, which are set in imagined Kenyan domestic interiors of the 1960s
- "Re-membering XII (The Wednesday Women's Club)" (2026) is oil on canvas, 72 x 90 inches
- "Re-Membering II (Facing Mt. Kenya)" (2025) measures 91.4 x 88.9 inches and is courtesy of Pippy Houldsworth Gallery
- In her statement, Mathenge says the title signifies the active gathering and reassembly of fragmented cultural memory, inherited forms, histories and ways of seeing
Entities
Artists
- Wangari Mathenge
- Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o
- Brian Griffin
- Ngugi wa Thiong'o
- Kamau Brathwaite
- Amalia Dayan
Institutions
- Lévy Gorvy Dayan
- Pippy Houldsworth Gallery
- Colossal
- Roberts Projects
- School of the Art Institute of Chicago
- Commonwealth Secretariat
- British Museum
Locations
- Nairobi
- Kenya
- New York
- United States
- Gambia
- Guyana
- Malawi
- Nigeria
- Britain
- Mount Kenya
- London
- United Kingdom
- Buckinghamshire
- England
- Los Angeles
- Washington, D.C.
- Massachusetts
- Chicago