Culture Black Fine Art Expo 2023 Program

MEET THE ARTISTS
Kay
Onwukwe
ARTWORKS BYMAZI KAY ONWUKWE MOVEMENT, COLOUR AND RHYTHM = HERITAGE KAY
ONWUKWE, AN ARCHITECT, A DESIGNER AND AN ARTIST USES HIS DRAWINGS AND
PAINTINGS AS AN OUTLET EXPRESSING HIS AFFECTION FOR HIS HERITAGE AND AFFORD
AUDIENCE CULTURAL INSIGHTS INTO THE CONTINENT OF AFRICA. WITHOUT FORMAL
TRAINING IN THE ARTS, KAY’S PAINTINGS AND DRAWINGS DEFY CLASSIFICATION. HIS
ECLECTIC APPROACH TO PAINTING IS EVIDENT IN HIS STYLES AND PLETHORA OF
SUBJECT MATTERS. VERY EXPRESSED IN HIS WORKS ARE THE PULSATING MOVEMENT,
THE VIVID, BOLD, BURSTING COLOURS AND THE RHYTHMIC DELINEATION OF HIS
SUBJECTS WHICH EVOKES EMOTION, PASSION, AND MOTION. THE INSPIRATION FOR HIS
ARTWORK IS STRONGLY ROOTED IN HIS CULTURAL BACKGROUND, WHICH IS
REINFORCED BY HIS PROFESSIONAL AND EDUCATIONAL TRAINING. THE LOOSE
ABSTRACT GEOMETRIC FORMS REFLECT THE AFRICAN IN HIM WHILE THE FORMAL AND
SYMMETRICAL IMAGES EXPLAIN THE ARCHITECTURE IN HIM. BY HIS ARTISTIC
EXPRESSION, HE PERMITS EXPERIENTIAL INSIGHT INTO THE AFRICAN WORLDVIEW. HIS
WORKS HAVE BEEN EXHIBITED IN GALLERIES, RESIDENCES (PRIVATE VIEWING),
LIBRARIES AND OFFICES EITHER AS SOLO, GROUP OR JURIED EXHIBITIONS. HIS WORKS
HAVE BEEN PUBLISHED IN THE KANSAS CITY STAR, COLUMBUS DISPATCH, AND THE
AMERICAN SOCIETY OF ARCHITECTURAL PERSPECTIVISTS, JUST TO MENTION A FEW.
KAY ONWUKWE ATTENDED KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY WHERE HE RECEIVED GRADUATE
DEGREES IN CITY PLANNING AND LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE, UNDERGRADUATE
DEGREES IN SOCIOLOGY AND A PROFESSIONAL DEGREE IN ARCHITECTURE. HE IS A
PRINCIPAL - IN - CHARGE OF DESIGN WITH THE ARCHITECTURAL AND URBAN PLANNING
DESIGN FIRM OF MKO STUDIOS – SUCCESSOR FIRM TO HKI ASSOCIATES INC; HE IS
ALSO THE FOUNDER OF MAZI GROUP, A MULTI-DIMENSIONAL DESIGN COMPANY. HE IS
AN ADJUNCT FACULTY AT COLUMBUS STATE COMMUNITY COLLEGE, COLUMBUS, OHIO.
HE HAILS FROM IGBO, NIGERIA IN AFRICA
MATTHEW COOPER IS AN EMERGING, SELF-TAUGHT ARTIST SPECIALIZING IN MIXED
MEDIA PAINTINGS. HE RECEIVED HIS ALA FROM VINCENNES UNIVERSITY IN 2012 AND
ATTENDED IUPUI HERRON ART & DESIGN WHERE HE STUDIED DRAWING AND MINORED
IN AFRICANA STUDIES. FROM EXHIBITING IN GALLERIES DURING HIS EARLY CAREER,
TO BEING COMMISSIONED TO PAINT MURALS AROUND INDIANAPOLIS AND BECOMING
A FEATURED ARTIST AT THE ARTS COUNCIL AND CIRCLE CITY INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX
IN 2021, MATTHEW HAS HIS FINGER ON THE PULSE OF HIS COMMUNITY AND IS MAKING
HIS MARK ON HIS HOMETOWN OF INDIANAPOLIS, IN.
Matthew
Cooper