Seven years ago, the Iponri Artists stunned the Lagos art scene with quality works of art when they made their debut exhibition New Dawn, at the National Museum, Onikan Lagos. In 2009, they had a follow-up, Isokan (Togetherness) at Terra Kulture, Victoria Island, which confirmed the arrival of this new generation of gifted young artists. In tandem with the independence anniversary of Nigeria, the group is in alliance with other young talented artists and held an independence show at Abuja, titled Today in History, between last Thursday and today at The Thought Pyramid Art Centre, Abuja.
The artists are Tayo Olayode, Bede Umeh, Kehinde Oso and Sanusi Abdullahi who are in alliance with non-members such as Bimbo Adenugba, Gerald Chukwuma, Uchay Joel Chima and Bolaji Ogunwo.
For the group, showing with non-members is not new because in 2011, the group, had, in Abuja exhibited with other artists, and a year after continued with an international collaboration when the artists showed in Accra, Ghana, again with non-members.
According to Olayode during a preview session in Lagos, the partnership will continue in the next few years, and may take the artists to U.S or Europe next year for exhibitions. He disclosed that the choice of Thought Pyramid Centre as a space has to do “with our diverse and big canvas.”
Apart from the pedigree of Iponri Artists’ name, none of the exhibiting artists is a stranger to the Nigerian art scene as each has made a mark on the Nigerian art space. From Olayode, to Chukwuma, a mixed media relief sculptor artist, Umeh, a painter with depth of skills on the canvas; Abdulahi, a metal sculptor, Adenugba, a painter with strong passion for realism and Chima, a mixed media artist, the group outing at Thought Pyramid, Abuja may be a turning point.
Some of the works include A Time To Ponder, Umeh’s painting that takes the texture of an embossed portrait. Other works of the artist for the show include Adaobi, a multiplication effect; and Delegation, a stylised figural of people in gathering.
Since their return from residency at Vermont in the U.S., Olayode and Chima have been sharing their wealth of experiences. For Olayode his signature is distinct in his painting of figures, where he uses crowd effect. Night Market and Royal Procession are two of his works at the group exhibition and it confirms that the artist is stepping up his game.
One year after, Chima had his first post-residency show titled Connection, a two-artist’s exhibition. But, his outing with Iponri Artists is a fresh window to celebrate his new technique. Chima, again brings his narrative about burns and darkness as explained in portraiture of a couple rendered in black rubber pieces.
Chima is known for his eclectic use of alluring materials and unique artistic process, often questioning environmental and social issues around the world. Chima’s works have continued to evolve, remaining relevant to developments in contemporary art. Weaving a tapestry of memory, imagination, societal happenings and emotion, he combines various fond objects, including strings, sand, wax, charcoal, old sacks, with paint and other mediums in an aesthetic that informs his oeuvre. He creates thought-provoking presentations, which address the realities around us whilst employing a mixture of conventional and unconventional approaches in his unceasing explorations.
Ogunwo explained his work: “My art is informed by the people and events that permeate my immediate milieu. In the course of my artistic career spanning over a decade, I have resolved not to be led by just the trending thematic and stylistic culture in the art practice but to see and represent ideas the way I feel and not just the way they are, hence my art is cathartic; a purgation of my emotions on frenzied canvases. I ventilate loudly through my pallette addresing socio-political issues ranging from corruption and moral deficit knowing full well that Nigeria will soon assume her position as the giant of Africa indeed.”
The only sculptor in the group, Abdullahi flaunts the beauty of natural metal with works such as Our Domain, a depiction of insects on cobweb; drummer of native Yoruba dance steps, in Bata; and another insect life, Tussle, where butterflies perch on a hibiscus flower. Perhaps adding painterly touch to Tussle with red hibiscus and yellow butterfly, Abdullahi offers quite a choice in collection tastes.
As for the non-members such as Adenugba he brings his new canvas of realism into the gathering with works such as Ecstassy, Green For Sale anf Fragment. In the last few years, he has populated his realism canvas with signs and motifs, some of which are pronounced, for example in Ecstacy, a piece about ladies in sensuous dancing.
