10 Questions with WiseTwo

Bhupi Jethwa, who is widely recognized as WiseTwo, is a Kenyan Multi-Disciplinary Artist.

His journey into the world of street art and graffiti started in the streets of Nairobi, mainly in the high-density areas of Kibera and Jericho. The name WiseTwo was self-given, a breakdown from the word wisdom but still humble hence the two, in reference to “not everyone can be the Wise One.”

In 2012 WiseTwo commenced his nomadic journey around the world, taking his art to over 15 countries, and currently he is located in Nairobi, Kenya. Wisetwo’s curious nature and urge to explore and discover more has allowed him to create a strong bridge between art worlds. From more traditional approaches to contemporary art influences, he has created a plethora of work, from collages, watercolors, and paintings to large-scale murals, thus creating a universal thread that runs through all the masks he paints and creating a connection that holds humanity together. In that venture, one can see the personal quest, a tug of war between ancient worlds and newer ones, creating harmony between the intricate choice of color palettes and masks that carry an entire universe. Each artwork invokes a feeling of psychedelic trance, a premise for essential questions about life, existence, culture, race, ideas, wisdom, knowledge, representation, identity, inclusion, and more. This all serves to reinforce his narratives and perspectives of balance, a world based on impulse and meditation, one with joy and pain, language and symbols, art and science, life and death, hence giving the viewer a chance of contemplation and why we exist on this earth. WiseTwo’s artworks adorn massive wall spaces across the globe. Some paintings are held in private collections and others in intimate site-specific locations.

Today his artwork can be found in several private and public collections, including Converse Head Offices in Mexico City, Mexico, Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Nairobi, Kenya, Michael Goldstein Law Offices, Los Angeles, California, USA, United Nations, Zurich, Switzerland, United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP), Nairobi, Kenya.

www.wisetwo.org | @wisetwo

ARTIST STATEMENT

WiseTwo’s artwork takes a critical view of social and cultural issues. Often referencing ancient civilizations and the invisible connection between people and cultures, through intricate color palettes and symmetrical shapes and forms that create a universe of masks. Having engaged subjects as diverse as ancient languages, scripts, shamanic mask rituals, and dying tribes, WiseTwo’s work reproduces familiar visual and aural signs, arranging them into new conceptually layered murals and paintings. While he uses a mix of acrylic, ink, and spray paint in his artistic processes, his methodology remains consistent. During his research and production, new areas of interest arise and lead to the next body of work.

INTERVIEW

Could you tell us a little more about your background? When and how did you start getting involved with art? 

I was born and raised in Nairobi, Kenya. I am of Indian descent, a first-generation Kenyan, and being born and bred in Nairobi came with its pros and cons like any other place. I adopted the craft of graffiti at a very early age. Something about it attracted me. It had this aura of being real and raw more than any other art form I had come across in my youthful days. So I started hanging out with a few local graffiti artists who eventually influenced my style and view of this art form and made me believe there is more to this than what meets the eye.

What is your personal aim as an artist?

I want my art to reach people worldwide and bring that spiritual and pondering effect to whoever comes across it. I feel that's the true essence of the artist and the art form that's being translated into the world. I want my art to fill the emptiness with concepts, meaning, and color to make it a beautiful experience that stands the test of time long after I, the artist, am dead and gone.

In your work, you range from delicate watercolors to large-scale murals. How do you choose the support for your work, and how much does the scale of the support influence your practice? 

I work in two different environments, the streets and the studio. What I love working in the most are the streets. The energy is raw, the sounds, the visuals, the human interactions, sometimes the pause between work allows my mind to dream and wander off. In these moments, I have created my best concepts. I believe that every new work I undertake creates a foundation for future art concepts that I can evolve later on. Thus the mural projects are my number one influence, with that knowledge I can easily translate artworks to smaller canvases and different mediums.

Masks are a recurrent theme in your work. Can you tell us about these masks? Where do they come from, and what is their meaning for you and your work?

These masks to me are powerful, spiritual, and ritualistic in their own ways. I like the mystery and the curiosity these masks create. Because behind every mask, there is a true face, but then again, that true face wears several masks depending on the situation and the environment that one thrives in.

My masks come from all over the world. I use certain existing elements and blend them in with my ideas and concepts to create completely unique and different masks, or rather art. Some say it's spiritual, some say it's psychedelic, like a precursor to another realm, and the only thing remaining is the consent of the human soul to take this trip in visual alchemy.

Where do you find inspiration for your work? As a street artist, do you get inspired by the different cities you work in or have your own imagery to draw from?

My inspiration is like a pendulum, it swings between my mental imagery and the cities I paint in. I use subtle hints like selecting a particular color palette, signs, and symbols to create a mural. Sometimes it's purely my mental imagery and how my previous project has inspired me, giving me a chance to further experiment on a series of murals with a particular color palette or theme.

You have worked all over the world; what is the one project you enjoyed the most? 

I really enjoyed painting a mural at the border of Mexico and the United States in early 2019 in the city of Mexicali, Baja California, with a social organization called Colectivo Tomate.

The size of my wall was 896 square meters, a massive outside wall of an abandoned cinema. The piece was recognizing a careful blend of existing cultures, namely Chinese, Mexican, and the flow of immigrants from all across Latin America/Africa trying to get to the USA for a better life.

The mural was titled "Tres immigrantes" like the three kings following the heavens freely, but just that in today's world, we have borders, making the people illegal rather than the opposite. Governments and powerful people gave us the illusion of freedom of movement, but in truth, that movement comes with a price. Some of these immigrants lose their lives in the process, they lose their identity, and they conform to wherever they may end up, creating a unique merge of culture and ideas.

This mural was tough but a lot of fun. I made many friends while in Mexicali, I practiced my survival Spanish, painted in crazy weather conditions, but overall it was a great experience, one necessary for artistic and human growth.

How do you differentiate yourself from the rest? In other words, what do you feel makes your work unique and truly your own?

I would say, "there is nothing original under the sun." My work is inspired and influenced by extraordinary people before me. What makes it unique and different now is that my artistic practices and artistic vision have given this style of work new meaning and new dimensions. Everyone on this planet is unique, different, and sees things differently. After me I am sure my work will inspire future artists, and they will do a much better job than I could ever do, but that's the evolution of life and art.

And how do you engage with your network? And how much did the pandemic change the way you stay active and engage with other people?

Social media is the best tool to keep abreast with the new and the old. With the pandemic, half the world has shifted to more technology, to more behind screens approach. It keeps me safe and connected with my network of friends and fellow artists. This has definitely changed how we all interact with one another, so I use this as another tool to stay connected and rooted somehow.

The pandemic has helped me deal with a lot of new artistic ventures, especially in the digital space.

What are you working on now, and what are your plans for the future?  

Currently, I am working on some NFT art. According to Forbes, an NFT (non-fungible token) is a digital asset representing real-world objects like art, music, in-game items, and videos. They are bought and sold online, frequently with cryptocurrency, and they are generally encoded with the same underlying software as many cryptos.

I would love to experiment on some NFTs since this is a relatively new platform. It would be another way to hone my skills in the digital realm and create equally beautiful art and, for the foreseeable future, keep producing great art in the digital, studio, and mural space.

I also have an upcoming solo exhibition in Vienna, Austria, at AG18 Urban Art Gallery and a powerful mural intervention at the Welt Museum in Vienna on the topic of unlearning Racism. It will be truly interesting to undertake and translate this unlearning through my art.

Finally, share something you would like the world to know about you?

I used to be an astronaut.