Joseph Mbatia Njoroge Bertiers, 1963
Biography

Joseph Mbatia Njoroge, known professionally as Bertiers, was born in Nairobi, Kenya, in 1963. He began his career painting signs for local shops, bars and butcheries as a teenager, later studying at the YMCA Craft Training Centre and working as a professional sign writer.

This early experience painting for the street shaped Bertiers' large-scale canvases, characterised by humour, vivacity and sharp social observation. His satirical scenes of everyday life in Kenya — from crowded bars to chaotic public transport — chronicle the country's politics and popular culture with wit rather than judgement.

In 2006 Bertiers won first prize in a national contemporary art competition organised by Alliance Française and the Goethe-Institut in Nairobi, travelling to Germany, and was selected for Dak'Art the same year. His work has since been shown at Fred's Gallery London, Basel Art Fair and the Johannesburg Art Fair.