ANTOINE IZERE has an exceptional talent for art. Using art materials such as paints( acrylics and oil), pallet knife and canvas as support he produces eye-catchy artwork that is appealing to the eye. For Izere however, art goes beyond just the beauty of it. It has been therapeautic and aided him in finding identity, joy and purpose. Growing up, he dealt with anger issues and he never understood what caused it. Luckily for him, he found solace in art that gave him peace of mind and happiness. Antoine Izere Inspired by his uncle who used to draw scenes for his poems and songs, he began drawing as early as primary three. Seeing that he was talented his mother pushed him to attend an art school and enrolled him at Academy de bon arts in DRC. Once he completed his Ordinary level, Izere joined Ecole D’Art De Nyundo for three years. He studied sculpture but has been mostly focusing on painting, and part time animation and illustrations. His professional art career started at the end of 2017 when he moved to Kigali to start his art studio known as Izihirwe arts and has since participated in several art exhibitions like Autour de moi by Maison Beaulier, Mumasangano, afrotopisme by GIZ and Maison Beaulier, November nu mérique by Institut Francais and Maison Beaulier. He also took part in Space and mind Kuuru arts, a snippet of Rwandan artists journey in Covid-19, Izihirwe arts exhibitions and Art Rwanda- Ubuhanzi projects with Imbuto foundation. Currently, he is working on animation projects with Rwanda Basic Education Board. While drawing, the painter takes about four days to two weeks to complete one painting. The main challenge he deals with however, is knowing who he is communicating to in every project he is working on, and sacrificing different things to make time for his career. “I just want people to be happy in one way or another, I need them to help this happen through my art piece. I look up to Epa Binamungu,” he said.
