Paul Onditi lives and works in Nairobi, in a high-ceilinged studio with a corrugated iron roof located just a few feet behind his house. He paints there obsessively, surrounded by the sound of barking dogs, Afro-pop from the neighbor’s radio, and matatus honking in the distance. Onditi often wears a brown newsboy cap and black-rimmed glasses — a bit of an old school presentation in a city where formal wear is the norm.
Photo by Matteo Lonardi. Courtesy of Montague Contemporary
Inside the studio his finished paintings lean against the plaster walls tilted in an uneven embrace. The first work I notice is Helter Foggy which features a recurring figure that Onditi has nicknamed “Smokey.” In this incarnation as in all others, Smokey stands with his back to us, contemplating the colorful Armageddon of a distant cityscape toppling in on itself. Smokey blends into the chaos, his silhouette scorched and chaffed by the same materials that depict the falling city before him. He stands in the foreground contemplating the scene in front of him, hands in his pockets, defiled by the destruction he witnesses.
Paul Onditi, Cast on Scape 2, 2025, Mixed media on digital polyester inkjet plate 112 x 140 cm