Pierre Mukeba

PIERRE MUKEBA HOLY SPIRIT [ON MY KNEES IN A TRENCH]

[TRENCHES]

The Holy Spirit, and a CV. Pierre Mukeba navigates dichotomies, and he does so with immense strength. Holy Spirit [On my knees in a trench] is the result of Pierre’s continuous revisitation to the trenches that guide him. No one stays in there all their life. But painting from this place forces a pure state of intensive spiritual and artistic practice, void of vices, and confronting Lucys.

The processes used to make a body of work shapes the intensity in which we feel it. The trenches led Pierre into a sober state, faced with subconscious guidance. Given all his faith in God [in Jesus name], Pierre allowed himself to trust in new mediums and concepts. Through this process, Pierre has acted as a vessel for the historical, biblical, pop and imaginary figures and references that navigated this body of work. These figures re-portray themselves through the guidance they’ve given Pierre. Guilty pleads have been admitted to. Identities have been revisited. The process brought Pierre to a crawl and on his knees to Pray. Faith brought protection and room to play whilst creating a body of work that challenges. When blind to what is beyond the trench walls, we navigate between confusion and clarity. Hindsight unveiled understanding of why each piece was totally necessary. These are the moments when you peek out of the trench to see if the coast is clear.

The problematic; the moment you peek out is also the moment you see what you’ve been ducking all this time. The trenches also serve as protection when the villains are at play. The intensive spiritual, artistic and human practices that Pierre immerses himself in, particularly through the development of Holy Spirit [On my knees in a trench], is a rough and churning process; but it is blessed with the confinement of solitude and close ones. It is a moment void of superficial industry relations that appear only warm and caring when talking percentages. It is a moment without relationships that come with an invoice. There’s no ‘let me be a part of the conversation’. No more false ‘help’. In this space, Pierre faces only himself and his practice. A short moment distanced from exterior toxicity or the limits of said “multiculturalism” within an industry. A period of growth and playtime. Industry gossip, ugh, duck that.

Artists are the groundbreakers and path pavers for the greater human collective, their roles shouldn’t be brought down by industry salt. Breaking through trenches and training, Pierre is putting barbarian tactics behind bars. Freeing himself through exploration and play, Pierre continuously innovates his use of chosen medium. The mediums, installations and the structural compositions of the canvas’ themselves have been conceptualised to break traditional codes of painting. This creates greater depths of meaning and allows a broader experience and understanding of the works. Pierre interrogates the canvas as a flat image. Being at the intersection of multiple practices and consciousnesses, the structure of his work is multi-layered; reflecting his understanding of the world.

Expression and imagery without novelty is not art, Pierre makes art. After everything said, huh, he is still playing in the trenches. And now primed from his experiences to navigate beyond the trench, the works of Holy Spirit [On my knees in a trench] are a testament to the realisations made whilst peeking beyond the trench walls and whilst praying deep on the trench floors.

dré fuzz