I had not planned to become as enthralled as I am now with Dan Sekanwagi’s work. I am no art critic and neither can I completely decipher batik or baroque. But I can spot philosophy when I see it; and there is surely a lot of it in the piece titled Idle. Made out of wax, dyes and ink on canvas, the beautiful light purple and brown presentation features five figurines – all female, two in fetal position, the other two in casual poses and the fifth one being the most sensual in the center. She, unlike her fellow loiters, hides her face between her naked knees like she is ashamed of being there; and seemingly presents what the artist explains as someone who is unmotivated, unchallenged and so is idle. But because she seemingly embarrassed by it, she stands out and makes me want to reach into the canvas and bring her out of her misery, her shame and her nakedness!

But like I said before, I am fascinated with this artist who was about 20 years old when his father passed away in 1974. Six short years later, after fleeing Idi Amin’s Uganda for next door Kenya, he held his first art exhibition in Nairobi with amazing reviews. He then went on to wow the world of art in different art centers before finally settling in these good United States. Of course I was a little apprehensive when my editor asked me to do a story on this Ugandan artist living in Houston, Texas who, for starters, I had never heard of until only last week! On going to his website to do research on the man, I could not decided what blew me away more – his art or how much he actually thought about things before he put them down onto canvas!

Secondly, although I prefer absolute abstract – like a lonely drop of red on a white canvas – I can easily see myself becoming an African art aficionado because of Dan. His art pieces are curvaceous and sensual; symmetrical and asymmetrical yet warm with human touch. When I look at them, I see that the person who spent countless hours bringing them to life is a kind and gentle soul who likes the ideal and believes in relationships. You might ask how I could come up with this summary of the man’s work. My response is: look at his Settlers for a few minutes and then tell me that this person does not care about other people. If this does not convince you, click on the image to read the careful and intense depth that comes as some sort of dialogue on the piece.

If that does not bring you into the Dan Sekanwagi Africa art fold, then maybe you are not seduced by the caring and community centric African art. And although caring and connection is a common thread, that spirit of community in Dan’s work has an extra aspect to it – and to use the words of Stan Hill who reviewed that 1980 exhibition, there was ‘…vivid simplicity [which] serves to make such memorabilia more memorable!’

If I had not spoken to Sekanwagi himself, I would never have understood that this meant that Dan is the kind of artist who keeps reinventing himself; always finding new ways to express himself. I prepared my best voice, sat in my chair and called Dan’s house at about 2:00 pm [EST]. When he did not pick up, I was relieved and left him a voicemail. About 6 hours later, a cheerful sounding man called me and I could hear akamwe’enyu mwe’enyu – a smile – on his face while we spoke. Although he caught me unprepared, we were still talking 30 minutes later and it felt like we had known each other a long time although I was only one year old when he became a fully fledged self taught artist!

Dan now calls himself by his full name – Daniel – after that Old Testament Daniel. He told me this because I asked him what his father would want the most for him now that he has become an accomplished artist. He said his late father would have wanted him to be a better Christian and shared how there had always been prayer in their house enforced by the household head who’d have been 96 this year had he been alive. And like most parents of fledgling artists, Daniel’s father would have preferred if he became a doctor, an engineer or a lawyer.

But art seems to have served him pretty well. Like you will find on his website, he has had shows on almost all continents, sold hundreds of art pieces and received international acclaim. What the website will not tell you is that Dan has a beautiful 100% organic Ugandan family right here in the United States. He met his wife in 1983 and together, they have two teenage sons. Dan has two brothers – Elijah and Elisha – and five sisters; all spread around the world. Although he does not go home that often, you should have heard the emotion in his voice when I asked him what he thought of our home country. He talked about beauty, serenity, a place to lay his head – but then maybe, he could have been speaking about his 85 year old mother who still lives kubutaka [at home in Uganda] and single handedly raised them after their father’s untimely death.

In my few years of interviewing, writing and publishing, I have learned to press salient buttons so as briefly capture the essence of a man or woman. I have met some remarkable people; and there is so much more to this artist than just his art. Unlike many of the others who are defined by their work, this one defines his work for himself according to his own rules. It’s this fierce independent streak that stood out the most for me; and although I am supposed to be an objective professional, I like Daniel Sekanwagi.

He seems like a good person and a good friend to have. And about his work, I am sure that even though I do not really find African art as appealing as, say, Beethoven’s 3rd Symphony, the art from this man’s hands, could, like God’s beautiful work of art in nature, slowly touch me in places I never thought I had and make me grow into the man I want to become. It could do the same to you – if you want to fly amongst the stars, that is!

Ends

By Dennis Matanda

dmatanda@gmail.com

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