Artist 78
Cyrus Kabiru C-Stunners Afrofuturism Sculpture
Cyrus Kabiru was born in 1984 in Nairobi, Kenya, where he currently lives and works. He is a self-taught sculptor and painter, who has exhibited frequently both internationally and on the African Continent.
His paintings are often humorous portrayals of contemporary living within Kenya.
Kabiru adopts the role of a flâneur, the observer, explorer, and lounger using his paintings as the output for his experiences.
His sculptural work embodies his role as a “collector” of Nairobi cast offs.
Kabiru fashions and refashions these waste, recycled, and found materials into various forms.
Today’s focus is on his perhaps best known series C-STUNNERS, an ongoing work which where Cyrus creates and wears artistic bifocals.
The work sits itself between fashion, wearable art, performance, and one of a kind commodity objects.
C-STUNNERS have a certain energy and playfulness that really captures the sensibility and attitude of a youth generation in Nairobi.
They portray the aspiration of popular culture bling; they reflect the ingenuity and resourcefulness of people; the lenses provide a new filter giving a fresh perspective onto the world that we live in transforming the wearer not only in appearance but in mind frame as well.
Karibu invented these ‘Afrodazzled’ bifocals with all pieces having an intimate connection to his life story.
The elements in his art touch on Afrofuturism. This genre combines science fiction, magical realism, and historical fiction with the culture and politics of the African diaspora.
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