The Beer or the Mug, an exhibition by Tevin Noel Ngunjiri, explores the conflict between personal agency and social constructs. Opened on October 21 and running until November 1 at Munyu Space in Nairobi, it acts as a rebellion against what society deems unacceptable.
Tevin unpacks this friction through landscapes of tree motifs: trees that sway and others that stand perfectly still amid turbulence. Based in Naivasha, he draws from its lush diversity of leaves and trees.
Some pieces depict calm weather with restless trees, while others show chaotic weather with trees that hold their ground. This choice between serenity and unrest represents resistance.
The Beer or the Mug is composed of three series. Seen, Unseen explores what people choose to reveal to the world and what they withhold. Here, fading tree motifs appear in turbulent scenes, while others exist in calm settings—representing how society influences the way people present themselves to the public.
Sontag’s 80 is inspired by writer Susan Sontag, whose theory suggested that 10 percent of people are inherently cruel, 10 percent inherently merciful, and 80 percent can be influenced in either direction. For this series, Tevin depicted trees swaying in calm weather in one piece; another showed trees facing each other, with one side calm and the other swaying.
Subtle Mutiny, the most turbulent of the three, features trees twisting wildly as the epitome of rebellion.
“Trees have become my language because I find it easier to dissect landscapes into emotions,” he says.
To emphasise the exhibition’s rebellious nature, he stripped away the traditional frame, choosing instead to mount each piece on wood panels.
“It’s refusing to conform to what is expected. People are used to seeing perfect landscapes. I simplify forms and didn’t go to the studio with a fixed colour palette; I allowed spontaneity to guide me,” he explains.
The works were created over two months of spontaneous processes. Acrylic paint mixed with cornflour formed the base—a textural, thickened element. This approach, he says, was about accepting that he is shaped by systems while also creating space to question and challenge them.
The exhibition’s title came from an Instagram reel that explained how the shape and colour of mugs influence the taste of coffee.
“I found it poetic. The mug is the social structure that defines how we perceive ourselves. For me, rebellion is a continuous decision to live and create outside social confines,” he says.
Curator of the show, Emmaus Kimani, was impressed by Tevin’s clear artistic vision and the message behind it. He also commended Munyu Space for continuing to be one of the few venues that showcase artists’ full bodies of work.
“The narrative in the exhibition is important to young people, as it speaks to how society intends to programme us. It asks us to reflect on how much of ourselves is truly ours and how much is influenced,” he expresses.