Strauss & co - 17 February 2018, Cape Town

194 Strauss & co contemporary art auction Cyrus Kabiru is a self-taught artist who grew up in Kibera, a slum in Nairobi, Kenya. He started making his roughhewn sculptural glasses, called C-Stunners , at a young age. Prompted by his father, who wore glasses and had to repair them himself, Kabiru initially made his sculptures for pleasure. Later, at school, he realised they could be bartered for homework. The material for his work is retrieved from Dandora, a sprawling dumpsite east of Nairobi that is home to many scrap foragers. Kabiru’s practice, which encompasses sculpture and photography, is essentially transformative.“I give the trash a second chance,” he is frequently quoted, alongside: “We need to move from selling poverty to selling creativity.” 1 As with the masks of Beninese artist Romuald Hazoumè, who also works with the detritus of the African city, Kabiru’s glasses are disquisitions on pleasure and creativity.When worn, notably by Kabiru for his photographic portraits, they confuse seeing and being seen, object and performance.“When I make these glasses I am Cyrus, the artist, but when I wear them I am a different person,” stated Kabiru. 2 1. Sean O’Toole,‘International Style’, frieze , Issue 171, May 2015, page 31. 2 Cyrus Kabiru, quoted at www.smacgallery.com, 2015 https://smacgallery.com/exhibition/cyrus-kabiru-c-stunners- black-mamba-29-01-15-14-03-15/ 70 Cyrus Kabiru KENYAN b1984 Kwa Kubadilishana Utamaduni, Macho Nne: At the Dot 2017 edition 1 of 5 + 2AP pigment ink on HP premium satin photographic paper image size: 146 by 116cm edition 1 accompanied by C-Stunner, a unique work: C-Stunner: At the Dot 2017 signed mixed media/found objects 23,5 by 29 by 22,5cm (2) R100 000 – 150 000 EXHIBITED The Armory Show , New York, 2017.