Maintaining cultural identity and connecting with African roots have been top priorities for Black artists in the diaspora. Suraj Adekola, who recently received an MA in Contemporary Fine Arts from the University of Salford in the United Kingdom, is no exception.
“We Should All Be Blacks” series is a new body of work by Suraj. Suraj disassembled and reassembled indigo tie/dye fabric, a process similar to cubism in which forms are cut and reorganised to create a new relationship. His use of sophisticated drawings made with thick bleach, an unconventional painting medium, is intriguing. Thick bleach isn’t typically used as a painting medium; instead, it’s used to sanitise and remove stains from surfaces, leaving them sparkling clean. Suraj, on the other hand, has repurposed thick bleach as a drawing, and Suraj has chosen to blacken the surface of his paintings as a metaphor to celebrate blackness. And Blackness for Africans is a celebration of Blacks’ past, present, and future legacies, said the artist.
Suraj transforms traditional and contemporary materials into visually stunning painting surfaces and installations. He uses Adire (tie-dye) fabric, a clothing material intended for fashion, as a surface for paintings instead of the traditional canvas to maintain his Black identity in a multicultural environment. Meanwhile, he uses Adire fabric, a textile specific to Yoruba culture, to reflect his ethnic heritage and identity. Suraj wears Adire (tie-dye) fabric from his hometown of Egbaland Abeokuta, Nigeria. While the background of his paintings may depict the sensation of Manchester at night, Suraj’s work is situated in the liminal spaces of identity politics, migration, dislocation, and co-existences. Through the materiality of his work, he draws attention to Black-cultural identity and the contribution of people of colour to the development of the Western environments. Suraj also uses football players’ jerseys and military camouflage to tell the story of Black history. His work draws attention to little told stories of Black people.
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Suraj’s art is heavily influenced by the postcolonial books he reads. His use of football jerseys alludes to the contributions of Black athletes to the development of sports in Western countries. And the use of military camouflage is a metaphor for telling the story of the soldiers in red jackets during World War I and II. Suraj interprets this as the Blacks joining forces with the British during both world wars.
His new series of works’ narratives were inspired by postcolonial theorists such as Stuart Hall, John H. Bracey, Jr., Philip D. Morgan, Kehinde Andrews, Sean Hawkins, and David Olusoga, to name a few. The artist expressed the belief that the fight for equality will continue in the future. The body of work that he created is a direct response to preventing segregation and promoting unity among diverse cultures and preventing further marginalisation in a multicultural environment. The artist stated that the notion of being black is not to undermine any culture or to compel people of other races to become Blacks, but to promote equality in our society by accepting each other’s differences.
Suraj’s unique abilities have earned him a Graduate Scholarship Award from the University of Salford Art Collection. Suraj was also given the opportunity to join Castlefield Gallery in Manchester. This will allow him to take part in artist talks and gallery exhibitions.