Olumide Oresegun, an exceptional artist, painter and colourist loves hypersurrealism. Now in Diaspora, he has launched his art into global reckoning and attention. This has given him an unprecedented space and a force to reckon with. EDOZIE UDEZE writes on his latest artistic exploits and more
When Olumide Oresegun’s mother bought sketch pad art material for his 9-year-old son, the seed for the making of an artist of exceptional skills was sowed, subconsciously or deliberate.
The benefits of that seed started manifesting over ten years ago when Oresegun’s art surfaced on the Africa, diaspora spaces, representing a new generation of contemporary artists. On the art exhibition circuit, Oresegun started making bold statement in hyperrealism when he launched his art into the global space from his Nigeria base, in 2011 with a solo titled, Moment of Reason, at Mydrim Gallery, Lagos.
From then till currently, Oresegun keeps expanding his steady followership base in art creation and appreciation, specifically, with his choice of hyperrealism art across generations and cadres of art lovers within Africa and other regions. His works keep assertong that he is an artist whose brushings, in human and environmental activities, explain diversity in creative application of colours.
Oresegun’s art philosophy rests on the belief that “wealth of experiences,” from which an artist can draw strength really counts. “My work is borne out of a constant passion to revisit the stories of my past and bring it to the present with the aid of paint and brushes.” The artist whose style in hyperrealism carries his nostalgic upbringing along explained how the face of his childhood always reflect “in every child I paint as those of adults reflect my generation and current situation.”
In the contemporary and global space that lures some artists to downplay their African identity, Oresegun seems to be different. His works serve as conduit in connecting Africans, home and the diaspora. And in some of his works, he appears to have chosen African diaspora persons that align iwith his kind of mentality. “Africans in the diaspora, inspired by the influences of Western culture, without forgetting their African roots, also surface in my work,” Oresegun proudly stated. “From a nostalgic standpoint, many of the costumes of my grandparents blended with the fashion trends of today also appear in my paintings.”
In art of figuration painting, good draughtsmanship comes as an asset, though taken for granted. In the art world where stylised figurative art keeps creating a sense of relativity in the draughtsmanship area, some artists still celebrate the beauty of perfection in figures as nature bred the human race. Oresegun belongs in that conservative school of art, but with additional exciting effects. For example, his water dripping and splashing effects have been among the qualities that make his paintings attractive to art collectors.
However, the beauty of creating such works also come with challenges for the artist. A single piece, he disclosed, “takes as long as over two months to conceptualise and complete.” And why does it take that long? “I never get satisfied,” he said of quite a number of times that he had to seek third persons opinions before releasing the works to the public. “Sometimes I call my wife and friends to look for faults in my works.”
His search for perfection wasn’t going to take long before the reward started surfacing. Apart from his skills in draughtsmanship, making the best application of canvas space as well as taking control over “values, edges and light” as well as hues or shades are assets. Examples exist in some of his works that feature crowded or multiple figures such as market scenes or children in the neighborhood.
“Some of the paintings on children celebrate my thoughts on childhood story which comes as the desire to portray the truth and beauty of Africa’s spirit.” Others, he said “have a deep sense of history to them due to the research and method of getting real information.”
Realism and its more detailed cousin, hyperrealism, over the recent years, deemed to be making stronger impact on the Nigerian art scene. Artists like Oresegun have raised the bar, countering critics of hyperrealism who water down the painstaking efforts involved in producing such art pieces. Many artists of hyperrealism contents have different ways of creating works that try as much as possible to step away from copying photography. For Oresegun, his works come with quite a lot of dramatic scenes with high depths in toning.
In the next couple of months, December, to be specific, Oresegun’s works will be on display at a fair, Spectrum Miami, U.S. And just recently, he showed in Patterns Perspective at Muzeo Museum, Anaheim, California, U.S, in an exhibition that opened in June, and ended September 2022. These international exposures for Oresegun’s work must have emerged from that fact that his art represent a new phase of African renaissance.
Oresegun’s spot on Africa and Africa diaspora space is not surprising given his list of mentors. Peter Coker, Kolade Oshinowo and Professor Tolu Filani are listed as those that inspired Oresegun in “learning how to make composition of figures in an imaginary scene, while at Yaba College of Technology, particularly when it comes to traditional method to tell African story.” Despite graduating with Distinction in Painting, his skills, he said, were further sharpened outside the classrooms, getting inspirations from seniour artists such as Abiodun Olaku, Rom Isichei, William Adolphe and Bouguereau.