Exhibition - Jimi Kabela: Amalgamation

Nancy Hoffman Gallery will present the first New York solo exhibition of work by artist Jimi Kabela, featuring richly painted abstract oil paintings from 2023 and 2024. Ranging in scale from tiny, at a scale of 5 x 7 inches, or large, at a scale of 5 x 8 feet, the paintings exude life force and energy in their lush, juicy use of oil, which the artist combines with bits of fabric from the Congo. The paintings integrate both sides of the artist’s life and heritage-born in the Congo and raised in the US-and offer a vista into both worlds.

The fabric imbedded in the oil acts as a counterpoint to the main medium of the work, a staccato note in the compositions, akin to buried treasure. These were the fabrics worn by his mother and grandmother and the people of the Congo before he moved to this country, a vibrant part of daily life.

His natural ability to express emotion in paint and to communicate energy through his strokes energizes and impacts the viewer. The muscle and fluidity of the artist’s hand are palpable in each of the works. Looking at a Jimi Kabela painting, one can feel the artist’s love of paint in the thick impasto passages, and smell the oil as one approaches the canvas marveling at the peaks and valleys of paint on the surface.

That the artist listens to jazz and African music while he paints can almost be felt in the rhythms of the works, which are non-referential. These are pure abstractions, celebrations of life and joy in their exuberance.

On one small canvas titled Dreams and Needs (12 x 8 inches) the artist has cut out a series of circles from Congolese fabrics that dance across a raw canvas ground with a ghost of pale silkscreened gray shimmering in the background, the entirety framed in several different bits of fabric, some turquoise, some green, some black and white, a symphony of possibility. In a large work titled Potupotu (6 x 8 feet) the symphony of possibility reaches a crescendo pitch in its abundance of color, gesture, texture, fabrics and swirling circles that punctuate the canvas surface crisscrossing both sides of this diptych. Moving from New York City grey to summer raspberry to brilliant green and yellow, this diptych is encyclopedic in its inclusion of Kabela’s entire vocabulary: the circles, the fabrics both hidden and revealed, the rapid color shifts, thick impastos, circles morphing into flowers, the entirety filling the eyes to the brim.

Kabela writes about his work:

“I use remnants of traditional African textiles and other items to express the Congolese and African roots of my birthplace. The bold, colorful patterns worn by the men and women of the Congo serve as a reminder of my ancestors, language and origins. At the same time, my abstract paintings are influenced by my American experiences, specifically my upbringing in Dallas, Texas.”

“In my artwork, I seek to capture the complexity, positive rhythms, and energies of both African and American cultural influences. Through the process of collaging and abstraction, both with paint and African textiles, I am able to depict the duality of these cultures. My use of geometry and process in abstract painting serves to balance and harmonize these influences, creating a visual representation of my cultural identity.”

About the Artist:

Jimi Kabela was born in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1990. In pursuit of enhanced educational opportunities, Kabela and his family (11 siblings) relocated to the United States in 2000. He earned his BFA from the University of Texas at Arlington in 2021, and his MFA from Pratt Institute in 2023.

His artistic journey has been profoundly influenced by his global voyages, traversing various corners of the world. Having explored every continent except Antarctica and Australia, Kabela draws inspiration from these diverse cultural experiences. His creative focus encompasses a keen interest in typography, language, and the power of communication.

His work has been shown in Rockport, Texas; Arlington, Texas; and Dallas, Texas; Aspen, Colorado; as well as in New York, NY.