Sex makes fools of all men.

It’s such a ridiculous thing to be doing anyway. No wonder we laugh.

Mark Anthony lost the plot after meeting Cleopatra, Napoleon set out a list of his risqué requirements in letters to Josephine (“I’m on my way — don’t wash!”) and examples abound of politicians and other national figures who have either had to tip-toe quietly off the stage when their little peccadillos became known, or accept life thereafter as figures of fun.

French President François Hollande springs to mind puttering around Paris on a little scooter allegedly for assignations with an actress.

They do say that men think of sex on average every six seconds… and no doubt it crosses the minds of women from time to time as well. At least, let us hope so.

Happily the world of art is not immune. Foremost among those who recognise the force that through the green fuse drives the flower, as Dylan Thomas so beautifully put it, is Michael Soi, whose lampoons of the antics of drinking men and artfully startled women has earned him a niche in the international market.

His full-on bountifully blessed women are the wananchi; the men who are ogling and groping them, the state. It is a neat analogy, one that passes over the heads of the very people it is aimed at, but such is the joy of satire — the targets just think it is funny and miss the point.

Soi’s saucy paintings are a common sight in galleries, restaurants and shops throughout the region; the faces of his women — his angels, as he calls them — are these days even appearing on bags and cushions.

Boldly outlined and in bright colours they command attention and hold the eye. The subtlety is in the message, not the paint.

And now 16 of his angels have gone on show at the Circle Art Gallery on James Gichuru Road, in Lavington, Nairobi. With its stark white walls, ceiling and floor it is the perfect place to give maximum impact to Soi’s simple palette.

These portraits, acrylics on canvas, are all imaginary, although loosely based on women and their fashions the artist has seen in and around Nairobi.

All are well observed with their pouting mouths and wide eyes — many hoping to make themselves more mysterious behind huge butterfly sunglasses — and in a different context they are immediately recognisable as the figures from his more serious social commentaries. They have the same look of faux innocence that tells a little to suggest a lot.

But this time it is not lust but limerence — that handy catch-all that describes an unrequieted, mostly asexual, infatuation.

But if you think the sex is absent for once, check out the bare-breasted beauty tastefully tucked away around the corner.

Of Soi’s 16 angels, most have dramatic Afro halos while a couple sport pom-poms and one or two boast fashionably straggly tresses.

Strings of telephone numbers appear alongside Soi’s name, either as necklaces, hair bands or the braids. Call them if you can. Not only are they entirely fictional, but if you look carefully (oh dear) you will see that one digit is missing from each. So, unlike those prison SMSs to numbers chosen at random, these girls can never call you, nor you them.

They are the artist’s reference to the habit of some Nairobi women who keep lists of numbers on their phones, generally known as “All the Men in My Life.” They call on Friday nights hoping for a little weekend entertainment, or so I am told.

The paintings are grouped according to background colour, the pale greens together, then the pinks and the greys and each is given plenty of space on the wall.

Soi, who trained at Nairobi’s Creative Arts Centre, and no doubt picked up a tip or two from his dad, the self taught master Ancent Soi, sees these portraits as a bit of fun, a way to relax after a hard day’s satirising the little idiosyncrasies of our beloved leaders. And the Chinese.

For sure they make a nice easy look with no hidden agenda, although they can still be seen as sharp — and droll — social commentary. Soi has a certain type of fun-loving Nairobi woman pinned down rather well.

A full colour catalogue accompanies the exhibition, which runs for a couple more days. There is still time to catch it — just.

Certainly with 10 paintings sold on the opening night at a comparatively modest Ksh50,000 ($500) apiece, these entertaining angels meet the artist’s criterion of producing art everyone can understand at a price most can afford.

Maybe his angels will help you to relax as they do the man who made them.

Frank Whalley is an arts and media consultant based in Nairobi.