Osazuwa Osagie began his professional career in the heyday of the military rulership as a newspaper cartoonist. A well-known portrait painter, he recently mounted his first solo exhibition in thirty years. Edozie Udeze, who attended the opening ceremony, writes on this artist whose love for colours and surrealism is remarkable
After 30 years of experimenting with the brush and showing so much passion in portrait painting, Osazuwa Osagie has finally succeeded in putting up a solo art exhibition. Entitled Views in Colours and held at the premises of the National Commission for Museums and Monuments, Onikan, Lagos, the over 100 art works done in the past 30 years depict Osagie as a surrealist and a portrait painter very much at home with his environment.
The works come in different sizes and genres – cartoons, water colours, oil on canvass and lots more, to show an artist whose love for variety of colours cannot be disputed. In the portrait genre, Osagie showcased a couple of people who have been of immense importance to him in the course of his professional work over the years.
The artist noted that most of the works are in tandem with the social issues of the country. “Yes most of the subjects treated in the exhibit range from cultural to social issues such as musical ensemble, traditional drummers, Goje players and flutists and a lot of others. In the sleeping beggar (one of the paintings on display), you can see the beggar with his bowl and stick. “It is a street scene which we are all familiar with,” he says.
According to Osagie, it is proper to zero down his experimentation on the issues common to the Nigerian landscape. A lot of them made sense because Nigeria is a society where variety of issues happen on a daily basis. In the road side food seller, one could fathom a common scenario in Nigeria where people live up almost every time of the day to buy food. It is tagged Mama put and the sizzling hot food attracted a lot of people to show a typical way of life.
In Iya Akara, there is a female road side snack maker with many people, cutting across age and class ready, to patronise the seller. The akara is hot and sold in the early hours of the morning to serve as breakfast. Also in a village alley, there is a beautiful and colourful form depicting women carrying loads on their heads. The loads and the postures of the women – all show a Nigerian rural setting in which nation is portrayed in its highest epitome and form.
All these and more show an artist whose love for what is unique and what touches the heart is never in dispute. They will show the technique of the palette knife and the usage of he brush in very many skilful ways to bring out total beauty.
Osagie skillfully and masterfully manipulates colours to give blended style with his surrealism. You can’t take that away from him, for, in his works are contemplative art forms in his own evolutionary uniqueness.
Over time, the artist has carried over his tilt for portrait with cartoons. Like most Auchi artists, his style is impressive with emphasis on the use of deep colours. This gives an irrepressible presence to his impasto technique. In some of his cartoons on display, he found himself in deep political and social milieu in Nigerian’s social terrain. These cartoons go back into time, portraying what leaders did in those dark days of political turbulence in the society. The satires and innuendoes are profound and thought – provoking.
In spite of the very innocuous and simple nature of art as a form, cartooning, to Osagie, can be very tasking and difficult to conceive and execute. “Yet, it can be very powerful,” he says. “Cartoons are a punchy medium of political and social communication. They also act as agents of change. Therefore, art must be used by the cartoonist with a lot of care and caution. This is so because people view and read them with great interest and then react,” he states.
Known for his peculiar style of cartoons in the defunct Concord newspapers, Osagie was then seen as a thorn in the flesh of the military rulers in Nigeria. There he met the likes of Akinola Lasekan, Dele Jegede and others. Today, Osagie can be safely classified as one of the most accomplished Nigerian illustrators, cartoonists, painters and portrait painters.
While declaring the exhibition open, Chief Philip Asiodu, a former super Permanent Secretary, assured Osagie that as an artist he has nothing to fear. “Since all sectors of the economy have almost collapsed, you artists are the ones in the forefront of making the society alive and active. Artists are very much alive in Nigeria, creating issues and landscapes to keep all of us in good moods. African works of art are respected all over the world and this is so because you people have not let yourselves down. You keep working and producing excellent works, and this is good for the art sector.” Asiodu, who was the special guest of honour, declared.
Trained in the popular Auchi Art School, Osagie has been versatile and consistent in his sojourn in the art. “It has been good for me all the way,” he enthuses. “And I have many more years to give to this profession. After thirty years, I think I am yet set for more things to come,” he says.
