In the March issue of Apollo, Michael Armitage described painting as ‘giving form to an idea, a feeling, an experience’. He made his name with colourful paintings that convey a vivid sense of modern life in Uganda and Kenya, the country of his birth, pointedly criticising sexism, homophobia and corruption while incorporating references to Old Master paintings. This mid-career retrospective in Venice makes it clear that even as his technique has evolved, certain elements have remained consistent – most notably painting on lubugo, a dried bark cloth, but also a propensity for political critique (29 March–10 January 2027). It also includes recent work in which Armitage steps back from recent history to capture the sweep of human creativity, from early cave paintings to – more ominously – the training of machines to get creative.
Find out more from the Pinault Collection’s website.
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