The Mingled Destinies of Crocodiles and Men

Pamoja

November 15 - December 20, 2025

Opening day November 15, noon-6 pm

︎ Online Viewing Room (forthcoming)
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Stellarhighway is proud to present The Mingled Destinies of Crocodiles and Men by the Kenyan artist collective Pamoja. This is the Collective’s first solo exhibition in New York City. The paintings and drawings in this exhibition range from colorful African landscapes and arrangements of animals to expert abstractions and calls for political action.

Pamoja comprises eight self-taught Kenyan artists who worked closely with the legendary photographer Peter Beard for nearly sixty years. Its members are Elizaphanson Mwangi Kuria Gibson, Nathaniel Kivoi Philip Mathenge, Gabriel Macharia Mwangi, Gibson Kuria Mwangi, Macharia Mwangi, Solomon Misigo Mugasia, Nicholas Njenga Mutarin, and Peter Marimbe Parsimei. Pamoja—Swahili for “together”—is an effort by its members to continue their passion for making since Beard’s passing in 2020, and to embolden makers like themselves who are often overlooked, buried or dismissed in the pages of art history. Although their individual and collective artistic pursuits differ, their work is keenly observed, and displays deep knowledge of their media and subject.

Through their work Pamoja broadly intimates the impact of humanity on African wildlife and ecosystems, the conflict between nature and human development, and the many aspects of mortality. Many of the members were born in rural areas and their work will sometimes engage with the Kenyan landscape through material exploration—direct prints from plants; textures from course materials like sand or bark; layered staining to distinguish colorations of flora and fauna; and generally, lifting or applying media with films, fabric, sponges, or fingers to various effect—all expertly employed and composed.

On their individual accord and through their contributions to Beard’s studio, the collective’s skill is represented in prominent public and private collections of art around the world. Their work has been shown previously under their own names at Stellarhighway, Brooklyn, NY; Affirmation Arts in New York, NY; and, the Outsider Art Fair, New York, NY. Pamoja has been published in The New York Times and twice in The Art Newspaper. The members are currently scattered across Kenya, but they have outfitted a joint studio in Nairobi from which they work to bring art into the surrounding community.

Please contact Stellarhighway for more information.