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Chain MUHANDI, 1957

Chain Muhandi (also seen as Muhendi) was born Charles Ng'ang'a Kuria in 1957 in Ngecha, Kiambu District, Kenya.

Muhandi's artistic career began in 1978 with the production of batiks that were tp be sold in Nairobi, Mombasa and Malindi. In 1988, after attending a workshop sponsored by the Goethe Institute in Nairobi, he took up painting.

Muhandi's paintings are difficult to read, composed mainly of bizarre and distorted characters in various poses that unify the painting's theme. He uses a strong expressionist style with an extreme texture, which transforms simple scenes into vibrant images of everyday life. His current work is inspired by political commentary and social criticism.

Chain Muhandi belongs to a group of artists that organised themselves in Ngecha,a small rural locality outside Nairobi, well away from the agitation of the Capital. The Ngecha group also cpmprises artists Sane Wadu, Sebastian Kiarie, King Dodge, Wanyu Brush and Eunice.

Muhandi has exhibited in several countries, and has held two workshops in Germany on the Contemporary Art of East Africa.

source: EASTAFAB 2003 and "Thelathini: 30 faces of Contemporary Art in Kenya"