Category: Arts & Life

It was all a glorious moment for Yakubu Kareem as he mounted his first solo exhibition in Lagos. The venue was the Signature Beyond Art Gallery, Ikoyi, Lagos, where his ten outstanding works titled ghetto impressions attracted many art lovers, patrons and enthusiasts for the period the show lasted. Yakubu in an interview with Edozie Udeze explained why his art is basically on rebellion, protest, all emphasizing the ghetto nature of most settlements in the country and more.

Yakubu Kareem is a unique artist, no doubt. He is peculiar in many ways. With his exhibition titled ghetto impressions which took place at the Signature Beyond Art Gallery, Lagos, it was apparent that this young artist has chosen to explore his own style of works that distinguish him from the rest. While the works were on display, it was clear that Yakubu took enough time to explore all kinds of mediums-acrylics, fabrics, papers, caricature and others to display his dexterity on all rounds. What one sees are all signs of what his art schools imparted on him. From  Auchi Polytechnic in Edo State to Yaba College of Technology in Lagos where he had his Ordinary Diploma and Higher National Diploma respectively, Yakubu has indeed allowed the sentiments of these two great and renowned art schools to determine the depth and profundity of his experiments, the ideas he represents.

“Oh yes I am from Edo State and my works are heavily influenced by the ideas I learnt at the Auchi Polytechnic in Edo State. I grew up in Lagos. And I live in Lagos. But the ghetto art aspect of where I grew up has influenced my works a great deal. My works come from the things around me; the people, the environment and all the issues involved. Of the two art schools that I attended, no doubt, Auchi has a greater pull on me and my works” he said almost beating his chest in the process. “Yes everything about my works is drawn from the background I had at Auchi- the mixed media, to the lines, to the approach, to the whole ideas of the works. Yes, I would rather say that Auchi has a greater influence on me than Yaba Tech. It was those years of foundation, those years of formative years in my education as an artist that have helped me to be”.

In the process he had deliberately chosen to be different in all his works because in art he believes it is all about making a statement. The kind of statement you make determines the direction of your work. “I believe in delving into something entirely different”, he proffers, smiling “So I go against everything that is considered a norm. Then the idea of large canvass, some people prefer to use white and brilliant kind of canvass, but I go for the opposite. I prefer something that is dirty- black and flexible. It is easier for me. I like it loose and hanging long like window or door blinds. That way, you can easily identify with the kind of works I do”.

Most of the mixed media he undertakes symbolize a state in confusion. The lines often go zigzag. Sometimes they run parallel from top to bottom. It is done on purpose just to distinguish his art work from the rest and to explain the ghetto nature of his experiments. In that wise, you see Yakubu’s works gripping your attention, dripping mostly with black colours in the background. You may call it foundational colours but as other colours are used or splashed on the black background the impressions and expressions become more elaborate and better defined. At some point you have acrylic on paper or what seems to you a bit mosaic. Some people may tend to view the images, some of which are abstracts as images of caricature. But beyond the splashing of the lines of colours, Yakubu takes his time to demonstrate and establish the primary message or what may be called the embodiment of the idea inside the canvass.

He seems satisfied with this approach for the very fact that the works look quite irresistible to the eyes. “The ghetto impressions as an idea actually came after the whole exercise of defining a rebel. The whole activities of life itself, the whole process… I therefore decided to name it ghetto. We all are rebelling against one thing or the other. The whole idea therefore to justify the concept of these works emanated from this. The works have plenty of community or communal touch to them”.

He loves to identify with the people. This is why he has refused to insulate or distance himself from the people and their art. Together the people and the art ring in his head from time to time. So this way his works are not only ghetto-textured, they symbolize rebellion and protest. Plenty of the abnormalities that trouble the system are splashed in larger than life canvasses. He decides to apply, where necessary, clothes and fabrics, or some discarded papers that have some of the elementals that hinge on community-oriented concepts. And as the works hang loosely on the wall, you see the whole problems of the society elaborated and demonstrated on each and every one of them.

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He comes in here to explain: “I stay in the ghetto and that has greatly influenced me. No matter where else I try to live in tomorrow, that influence is already deeply imbued in me. And you can see the title of the show- ghetto impressions reflecting in all the works. That shows the nature of the works we have here. For instance in poise one, you have collage, acrylic on paper, fabrics, all mixed together. And I am that kind of person that likes to push the limit. I go far with a lot of mediums in one work. I usually challenge myself too hard on that to see how good it can come out”.

 The mediums come as different symbols mixing all these together to make his works pleasant and good to behold. It is really good to be different. “I may go about in the streets picking lots of clothes for my works. I mostly pick different colours. When I apply all these to the art piece they give the work different coloration away from the norm. There is this joy or feel you get when you discover that what you have done is quite unique”.

And truly, Yakubu, besides being a lover of huge and intimidating canvasses, breathes multiple ideas into one work. Consequently, all you see in each work is different in more ways than one. All the ten works penciled for the show harbored in broader ways Nigeria’s myriad of problems from the ghetto level to the urban cities, cutting across class and estate in life.

In some of the works, you see total expressive works imbued with deep impressionism, all expressive of what colours can do to distinguish his art pieces. “Yes, black is strong. Black is very, very strong. It is like limit line and it overshadows all other colours, thus making the beauty of the works more admissible”. There’s this work called ghetto corner which also embodies surrealism and realism, with the images dwelling on the depth of ghetto sentiment.

“It takes me brief moments to visualize what to have on my canvass. Yes, it does not take me long to visualize it in my mind, deep in my mind. All I need is to feel it. Sometimes I wake up early in the morning to take a stroll around my vicinity, and then ideas begin to come inside my mind. At other times I walk until my legs get tired before going home. But then that gives me time to see my environment, see the people and then I allow those impressions to seep inside of me… We have a waste problem everywhere in Nigeria. All I see are these people in which also you see the materials they use like fabrics and so on. When you bring all these together into your work they give you some level of glow only beautiful art pieces can give. Even discarded plastics on the streets, all that give realism to the abstract. For me I come from the known to the unknown. This work here is the apprehension of my environment. It is what I feel about people around me. You may not see everything in details but the details are there all the same. People are moving around, to different places and locations yet you cannot see it in this work. It is also an abstract work. This is one of the works with less colours yet it has too many messages embedded inside of it” he said.

All these have indeed given Yakubu Kareem a distinctive voice and signature in the visual art circle in the society. And come to think of it, this is why Signature in its professional wisdom chose to sign him on. His model of protest or rural or ghetto art is significant, the art speaks to the high and might. He comes in from the ghetto but his message is for everybody, thus making his work an El-dorado.