Xenson, whose real name is Samson Ssenkaaba, has carved a reputation for himself as a protean artist with elastic gifts: painter, sculptor, performance poet, graffitist, photographer, even fashion designer. The standards he sets for himself are higher than what others set for him, which means that Xenson has an uncanny capacity to surprise us with the range of his creations. He is, to be clear, an artist’s artist – one who is constantly trying to test the limits of creativity by constantly experimenting. His hard work is exemplary.
Xenson was most recently working on a one-of-a-kind ‘barkcloth center’ that would be associated with Xenson Art Space, the Kampala gallery he founded years ago and which now has become a key staging ground for emerging artists in our region. The barkcloth center is envisioned as a multi-disciplinary space that would welcome all who are currently involved in the production of lubugo, as barkcloth is known locally, and would contribute to research and craftsmanship around this material that is becoming more and more attractive to artists.
Followers of Xenson would have been astonished by “Olidde Mu Pipa,” his 2024 solo at the Nairobi Contemporary Art Institute. His presentation of sculptures and installations created from found objects underscored his ability to simplify abstract ideas in a way that resonates with a wider audience. He practically created an army of coal stoves that stood like alien objects, even though they – each one of them – radiated beauty and collectability. Which self-respecting collector wouldn’t want to keep one of those, if they could afford it? And, also in that show, there was an elegant bag of charcoal on the floor as well as a giant (and equally elegant) mousetrap.
For Xenson, there is wealth in random objects and materials he sees everywhere, and he wants to make those objects tell a story – and perhaps even sing while they do that. Here is a conceptual artist at the peak of his powers, and he accomplishes most of his work in solitude and far away from the public adoration that he has earned over the years. His works are in private and public collections all over the world, including the Minneapolis Institute of Art and the National Museum of Scotland. He was among a small group of artists selected to represent Uganda at the 2024 Venice Biennale. And, thankfully for the artist, works by Xenson have consistently fetched high prices at auction; their value will continue to rise.
TWR is publishing only a dozen works from Xenson’s rich and large oeuvre. His canvas is often vivid. The pictures are curated from multiple bodies of work by Xenson, with a few already in private collections. Against the Tide, a minimalist piece that has been put on the cover of this issue, is a fine example of the strength of Xenson in uniting disparate materials in service of art: cowrie shells, acrylic paint, barkcloth, and even rubber. This is a piece of quiet and poignant beauty, because we know from the title that Xenson is warning us about something we ought to pay attention to. The cowrie shells must stand for something, just as the reddish hues of the barkcloth convey a turbulence that the abstract figure of a swimmer must try to overcome. It is a museum-quality piece in its evocation of the currents of being – personal currents as well as those that represent whole communities.
Xenson’s success as an artist was predictable. As a little boy, he was drawn to traditional art forms in the social ways of his people – one reason he seeks to preserve those aspects of local knowledge and expression that can find new relevance in contemporary aesthetics. It is the same instinct that provokes his concern over humanity’s devastation of the natural environment. Xenson graduated from the Margaret Trowell School of Industrial and Fine Arts at Makerere University in 2000. His career has been on the rise ever since, so that no list of great contemporary artists in Uganda today is complete without his name. ▪
