Lazaro Samuel

Lazaro Samuel, 22, is an artist from Dar-es-salaam. At 15, he was living on the streets of the city and was brought to Nafasi Art Space by the Makini Kids, an organization taking life schools through the arts to homeless kids. For over a year Lazaro attended art workshops at Nafasi while also volunteering on the grounds. He was soon hired full time at Nafasi as one of the groundskeepers while also acting as a guide and assistant to various artists in residence. His distinct, paint splatter style was first witnessed on the clothes he decorated in his spare time and later, with encouragement from various artists at Nafasi, on the walls around the grounds. But its on the canvas where the his full range has been realized, and where, with inimitable style he, is able to imbue mystery onto plainly colored backgrounds that are then cut apart with splatters and patterns that speak to chaos plainly, that are never faltering or confused in their distillation of city life and urban structures of thought. Lazaro has participated in several group exhibitions at Nafasi including Taboo (Dec 2018) and How Did We Get Here? (Mar 2018). His first solo exhibition, This is Where I Live Now, opened in May 2019.