ICONIC ART MURALS: TOP KENYAN GRAFFITI ARTISTS

In Nairobi, street art is prominent as it is vibrant, optimistic, challenging and beautiful, further giving a voice to residents. For decades, graffiti has been a visual force in urban centers and the world over as it gives voice to people with a spray can, a blank wall, and a willingness to pass any message they please. In no particular order here are Kenya’s top rated graffiti artists. 

Bankslave 

Labelled the founding father of Kenyan grafitti art by CNN, Bankslave is the man behind most graffiti arts around Nairobi city. For more than 19 years, the graffiti artiste has been making social and political commentary on Nairobi’s street walls. Bankslave’s work has also depicted famous personalities such as former US President Barack Obama, actress Lupita Nyong’o and singer Miriam Makeba, “Street art is not selfish; it brings colour to the world and brings out Nairobi’s character and people, a way to express Nairobi in a cool way,” he said in a past interview.  He has also won a number of competitions among them the second edition of Hennessey My Graffiti in 2016.

Chelwek

Also known as Nancy Chelagat, Chelwek is a Nairobi-based artist who showed interest in graffiti art while in class seven, drawing her first piece during a family get together.  Speaking of her first piece, she said; “There were colours and drawing boards at the kid’s corner. I drew and took it to my elder sister, she was surprised and proud of me. I continued with art but was doing it for fun. I always found myself drawing on a piece of canvas, walls and at the back covers of my books.” She later joined the University of Nairobi where she did design, majoring in illustrations. In a past interview, Chela disclosed that the cheapest art she has sold went for Sh500, while her most expensive piece went for Sh100,000.

Swift 

The artiste also known as Swift Elegwa is popularly known for beautifying Nairobi estates with graffiti.  Speaking in a past interview, the artiste said he started graffiti in 2002 after spotting countless blank walls in Jericho, Nairobi. Later between 2003 and 2006, Swift went to spray paint and meet up with artists, Bankslave, Smokey and Uhuru, at least once every month. The four often worked on communal art projects ever since. One such project was a set of graffiti murals commissioned by the GoDown, which is how the graffiti of among others Miriam Makeba and Michael Jackson to Barack Obama went up on GoDown walls.

Bantu 

The artist made headlines in the recent past after joining hands with other artistes to raise COVID-19 awareness through art.  Bantu and his team have been writing and drawing awareness messages on walls especially in the slum where residents know little to none about the respiratory infection. The artiste has also participated in a number of competitions including Hennessey My Graffiti among others. 

Blaine 29 

Blaine 29 is a Nairobi-based graffiti artist specialised in murals and graffiti. She gained interest in art at the tender age of 11 and later joined Kenyatta University where she studied Fine Art and Design.  Blaine’s work is based on a vast use of colours on different subjects, with her style being a fusion of many art schools such as Abstract Expressionism, Art Nouveau, Pop Art and Expressionism.  She has also been featured in a Netflix series.