Until March 19th, and in celebration of the centenary of International Women’s Day, the King’s Art Centre has opened its gallery space for an exhibition of works by the painter Emily Kirby. ‘All The Colours’ consists of thirteen works on canvas chronicling the diverse people encountered by the artist during her travels in Africa.

In subject matter, these paintings range from mundane scenes of market vendors to the silent gravity of tribal life. Yet this spectrum is united by the almost mythic quality of the paintings, in which Kirby uses colour very impressionistically, to the point that even the mundane becomes fantastical.

Kirby makes extensive use of complementary colours, with the result that the paintings are joyously vibrant. In particular, in ‘Market Day’ and  ‘Banana Bicycle’ she juxtaposes a very seductive cobalt blue with the brightest of oranges and yellows. These paintings seem to glow against the bright white walls of the gallery space. More subtle is Kirby’s use of green and red in ‘Tribe IV’ where the comparatively dark tones combine to enforce a longer contemplation of the subject (herself meditative and serious), in contrast to the blindingly bright works displayed elsewhere. Even then, however, brushstrokes of blue, purple, and yellow leap out to be noticed, almost conniving with the painted mouth of the subject to force her to smile.

Smiling is how this exhibition leaves me. Daily we are confronted with tales of poverty and the inequality of women – particularly in relation to Africa. Kirby’s paintings bring out the optimism of quotidian life in Africa: she shows us the beauty of a way of living which is very different to our own. If I have any complaint about this show, it is that there is not more of it.

‘Lake Side’ is the first painting one encounters in the exhibition. In it, Kirby depicts two adult figures washing a sheet, and also two children, playing in the water. Are the figures male or female? It is difficult to tell, but in some sense it doesn’t matter. Looking at this painting, I get a sense of the generational continuity between the aimless games of the children and the adults’ chores – the act of washing a sheet transforms into the most inconceivably amusing game, irrespective of purpose and age. This sheer love of life rubs off on the viewer too, through the vibrancy and vivacity of Kirby’s work.