Ramadhan Hamisi is a Tanzanian artist, who is known for his hyper-realistic drawings of people and animals. With a conceptual approach, Ramadhan seduces the viewer into a world of ongoing equilibrium and the interval that articulates the stream of daily events.
His drawing’s which mainly make use of graphite, charcoal and pastel radiate a cold and latent violence. At times, disconcerting beauty emerges. He creates black and white works through labor-intensive processes.
His art aims at depicting the inner soul and deep feeling in humanity, that is not easy to express using words.
His drawings directly respond to the surrounding environment and make use of everyday experiences from the artist as a starting point. Often these are framed instances that would go unnoticed in their original context. Ramadhan Hamisi currently lives and works in Nairobi, Kenya.
THE JOURNEY
Ramadhan started drawing at the age of 6. He was mostly interested in pencils and paper, maybe because that’s what he could afford and they were the only materials readily available. Ramadhan won several competitions while in Primary and Secondary school.
Ramadhan pursued Economics and Finance at Kenyatta University. Though he was studying Economics, his interest was always in fine art. He did not want to study art, because he did not want to take it too seriously, taking away the fun part. He saw art as a hobby, and he wanted it to remain that way. He attempted to step away from his artistic path, but it seems that art continued to choose him and he was continually drawn back to it.
Shortly after University, he began to teach at a small art institution, Sketchmasta Art in 2016 where he decided to dedicate his time to his artwork and expand his career as an artist. In 2019 he had his first solo exhibition in Cape Town, South Africa at KnexT Art Gallery which was called SELF-ESTEEM.
As an artist who thrives in solitude and working solo in his studio, the pandemic allowed for the proliferation of his work. As a self-taught artist, this was a moment for him to pause and really focus on his development. During the past few years, Ramadhan has been working diligently on his series of large format Charcoal drawings and in 2022 had a group show at Pen Project in Miami followed by a solo show at Galerie Felix Holler in Austria.
He mostly makes use of charcoal in his work. He loves the style and quality that it produces. Before he starts the actual drawing, he comes up with a certain concept. To make the concept real, he finds a muse and take photos. Most of his muses are his close friends. He knows them very well, he knows their vulnerability. He can’t capture that using a camera, so he has to use his tools, working on the actual drawing to show people the soul of his muse.