Artist statement
In the recent past I have raised hundreds of millions on behalf of numerous NGOs ,Using a paint brush on canvas is a platform for me to echo a voice that is bigger than my own ambition,
Much more than skill Art is way of life for me,
It is a means of communication between me and God ,and people who interact with my work..
As an artist who is constantly in touch with my environment.
I have been able to use a brush stroke to initiate dialogue, reconciliation an enhance better livelihood both political, social, spiritual.
speaking for the voiceless when they come to expresses themselves on my art canvas .
Having worked with renown artists like Kirk Franklin of USA ,Papa San of Jamaica ,I have shared my heart to make world a better place ,
My Painting style in abstract with colours helps me provoke debate, thought and imagination ,because it is open ended every person can have their own interpretations depending on their back ground .
This kind of expression helps to bring people together to this effect it has been means reconciliation and healing.
As leader in the making I have shared my canvass with other leaders like Prof. Ali mazurui, H.E. President Museveni, H.E.Nkuruziza., H.E. Benjamin Mkapa ,Pro. kagonyera .Prime minister Apollo Nsibambi ,Governor .B.O.U Tumusime Mutebire and many others
I look forward to communicate love and hope in Africa through this creative artistry.
Establish strong partnerships using artistic disciplines in fusion of Live Art and events to define time and seasons ,
To Share moments uniquely with a souvenir piece of art
Engage culture with excellence
For God and My Country
Painter Tibirusya Rolands
Armour Arts .U
The Artist (Critic)
Tibirusya Rolands is an artist of many talents: he is a painter (of souvenirs, portraits and landscapes), an innovator, and a writer. In painting, he is best known as the pioneer of expressive live paintings - albeit he is also the artist who introduced the concept of sharing canvass signature with others - as an innovator, he prides himself on beginning an unprecedented art movement at Makerere University where he introduced the unique idea of expression with color, bearing on the experiences not the traditions of the old masters; and as a writer he is author of The Understanding of Souvenir Paintings
A young painter in the early stages of his career, Tibirusya is unlike your typical stereotype of the young contemporary artist: he is a rebel; the revolutionary who broke the norm of studio work most Artists adhere to, and replaced it with on location live painting at events, thus cultivating what is referred to in art circles as conceptual “Souvenir Art”. No wonder Roland’s works come across as those of a self-taught academic – a master who seems to be naturally drawn to themes other young artists generally shun to tackle. Take the concept of painting live on location at events, where he undertakes an artwork dotted with advocacy messages from scratch to finish before big audiences: This is an unprecedented approach to producing souvenirs, based on the artist’s innovation and creativity rather than on his formal training – a phenomenon explained by Roland as “an engaging genre of art that involves the capturing on canvass of all magic of the moment abstract expressions generated through out an event, and interweaving it with the figural composition based on the passions and emotions that represent each moment.”
A graduate of the famous Margaret Trowel school of Art, whose predilection for the unconventional goes back to his days in school; Roland’s received his first widespread critical acclaim when he painted the award wining dramatic work, titled “……..” during the popular Prime Time Show, hosted every Saturday at the Makerere University swimming pool. Although it depicted spontaneous expression as interpreted by the artist, this award winning work did its share in influencing the creation of the "Souvenir paintings” exhibition, an exhibition that is simultaneously a tribute to Uganda’s leading figures of the 21st century as it is a reminder to the international audience that great figures can hail from small places: for it presents a gallery of the most well-known live painters from East and central Africa, and the world at large, in the past half a decade. The exhibition also features events graced by the most renowned and respected figures on the continent: including cultural heroes, athletes and Music stars, some of whom have even added the weight of their rare signatures on the paintings. Among the big figures who have signed some of Roland’s Pieces are the intellectual Ali Mazrui , presidents Benjamin Mkapa of Tanzania, Yoweri Museveni Kaguta of Uganda and Nkuruziza of Burundi, and more recently, he painted a piece about climate change at Hotel Africana that was signed by ninety nine Ugandans.
Art critic.Eastafrica
Yet as well as getting presidents to sign his works, the artist has also been able to use his pieces to fundraise record breaking sums of money at charity events, the most noteworthy being his philanthropic work, which fetched a record 150million.
If Uganda had its own National Portrait Gallery similar to the one in London, this is where one would find Tibarusya works. Rolands’ portraits are however not painted from live models but from photographs; this according to the artist, allows him to display his technical prowess, in addition to adding a certain degree of irony – as is the case with photos that have been overly edited in Photoshop – while maintaining a distance with the subject, This is the effect Rolands wishes to achieve.
by Oscar Ranzo -Art critic.Eastafrica
