KENNY MARO — BETWEEN SKY, SPEED, AND MEMORY

Some artists paint the world as it is.
Kenny Maro prefers to paint the world as it could become.

The first time I encountered his work, I felt as though I had stepped into the middle of an unwritten science-fiction film — a universe suspended somewhere between memory, technology, dream, and motion. His paintings did not feel static. They felt cinematic, immersive, almost alive.

More than two years after our initial contact, I finally had the opportunity to speak with Kenny through a video call. Behind the futuristic imagery and surreal worlds, I discovered an artist deeply reflective about identity, ambition, mental space, and the fragile relationship between humanity and technology.

Born in Benin City, Nigeria, Kenneth Oghenemaro — professionally known as Kenny Maro — first entered the world of art through the influence of his older brother. Watching him draw awakened both admiration and a sense of competitiveness. Determined to improve, Kenny continuously experimented with different techniques and materials throughout his artistic development, spending a period working extensively with ballpoint pen before eventually transitioning into oil painting during his studies at the University of Benin, where he deepened his understanding of anatomy, composition, and painterly technique.

Yet the true turning point in his artistic evolution came during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Like many artists confronted with silence and uncertainty during that period, Kenny began questioning the deeper purpose of his work. What emotions did he want viewers to experience? What kind of universe was he trying to build?

Then came a moment that would permanently redefine his visual language.

While trapped in traffic one day, his imagination drifted elsewhere. What if he could rise above the congestion and fly over it? From this thought emerged the hoverboard — now one of the defining symbols of his practice. In Kenny’s world, it represents liberation, transcendence, and the refusal to remain trapped by circumstance.

Equally significant are the helmets worn by his figures. Beyond their futuristic appearance, they symbolize protected mental spaces — reflections of Kenny’s introverted nature and inner world. His subjects navigate surreal environments while preserving a kind of sacred interiority.

This tension between speed and introspection gives his work remarkable emotional depth.

The influence of The Matrix further expanded his imagination and reinforced his desire to create paintings with a distinctly cinematic quality. Kenny wants viewers to feel as though they are witnessing fragments of a larger unfolding narrative rather than isolated scenes.

And the paintings themselves fully embody that ambition.

Floating figures carve through luminous skies on hovering boards. Futuristic travelers navigate alternate dimensions surrounded by clouds, electricity, vegetation, and glowing structures. Bodies merge with technology while nature quietly resists disappearance. His compositions oscillate between serenity and acceleration, dystopia and hope.

Within works such as Finding Air, Light Bringer, Vigilante, and The Alternate Fall, Kenny constructs alternate realities populated by hybrid beings suspended between psychological, technological, spiritual, and environmental worlds. His use of vibrant skies, glowing energy, circular compositions, and surreal architecture creates experiences that feel simultaneously intimate and cosmic.

Beneath the spectacle lies a deeper philosophical inquiry.

Kenny challenges the illusion of complete independence. For him, human existence is inseparable from memory, environment, technology, history, and collective experience. His paintings investigate what happens when the natural and artificial coexist — and what dangers emerge when one begins to dominate the other.

Through surrealism and Afrofuturism, he creates dreamlike spaces where new worlds temporarily emerge before reality reclaims them.

There is something profoundly contemporary about his work. His figures move with the urgency of a generation trying to outrun limitation while protecting its inner self from collapse. The speed embedded in his paintings reflects ambition, resilience, and the determination to beat the odds — values deeply instilled in him by his father.

Yet despite the futuristic imagery, Kenny’s art remains deeply human.

Perhaps that is what makes his work so compelling. Beneath the helmets, hoverboards, and alternate realities lies something universally recognizable: the desire to rise above chaos while preserving one’s inner world intact.

Graduating in 2019 from the University of Benin with a degree in Fine and Applied Arts, Kenny Maro has rapidly emerged as a compelling voice within contemporary Nigerian art. In 2022, his participation as both grantee and exhibitor in the prestigious Rele Arts Foundation Young Contemporaries program brought significant visibility to his practice. Since then, he has participated in numerous exhibitions, including his debut solo exhibition, THIS IS NOT EARTH.

As our conversation came to an end, Kenny shared that he is currently preparing a new solo exhibition centered around an entirely new body of work. Considering the imaginative force already present in his universe, I can only imagine where his next journey through sky, speed, and memory will take us.

Enter a brand new world with him here: https://www.instagram.com/kennymaro/ 

Location: Lagos (Nigeria)