It happened last week at the Alexis Galleries, Victoria Island, Lagos, with three young Nigerian artists showcasing colourful works of art. The exhibition is titled Imaginativeness to depict the new trends being explored by the artists. The artists include Prince Orlu Ozangeobuoma, Karen Ogidi and Akinbanji Osanyemi. Edozie Udeze encountered them at the preview of their works in Lagos.
The history of how Karen Ogidi finally became a visual artist is one of the most dramatic story of the decade. Karen Ogidi, Akinbanji Osanyemi and Prince Orlu Ozangeobuoma started their group exhibitions yesterday at the Alexis Galleries, Lagos. The three are young artists rearing to go. While Ogidi and Osanyemi are based in Lagos, Orlu has his studio works in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. They all came with different forms, styles and medium to stir the art scene this season. But Ogidi and Osanyemi are the ones who are not just self-taught artists after having their first degrees outside of the visual art, they’ve also proved that life itself is no push-over. In everything you do, you have to follow your mind, be consistent and then push on ahead.
Mrs. Patty Chidiac-Mastrogiannis, owner of Alexis Galleries explained that this was a moment to showcase three artists from different artistic backgrounds entirely. “As for Ozangeobuoma”, she said during the press interview, “he is big and bold in his works as you can see from the one hanging behind me”, she said. “His Palette knife is special and Osanyemi loves charcoal works. Ogidi approached me just about a month ago in connection with this exhibition. So here today we have three artists, with three different styles and so on”, she said. The title of the exhibition is imaginativeness and it comprises of paintings, depicting the profound imaginations of these artists whose expressions dwell on socio-political, economic and other nuances of the society. Ogidi, for instance, studied English and Literature in Cyprus but her love for art pieces could not allow her to be. In 2015, she decided to go to the Universal Studios of Arts (USA) Iganmu, Lagos, where she was taught how to paint. For her, this had always been a life time dream. Even as she was in the university studying English, her mind was yet attuned to Fine Arts.
Ogidi is of Nigerian and Turkish parentage. In an interview with The Nation, she said, “what I have here is oil on canvas. I love experimenting on oil on canvas. This painting is like a forest; this work here. I usually take pictures of what I paint so that it will look real”.
She also uses palette knives where the need arises. “Oh I love colours a lot,” she informed. “Deep colours and in different forms help to embellish my works. ‘I also love nature, the natural aura it gives me when I finish painting it, appeals to me. Here you have a forest in its epitome. I work on them but I do not make them exactly the way they are. It makes me calm, I feel excited. I always like being around water. So that forest is surrounding a river. The noises of the water as it flows make me happy. And that’s what I have just reproduced in this work. Sometimes when the water is in motion, you see some sorts of reflections. Those reflections are so amazing and lovely”.
Ogidi’s love for realism reflects in all her works. You can hardly notice traces of someone who is indulging in her first public exhibition. She is profound; a perfect colourist whose works quickly appeal to you if you are an art lover. In this exhibition, she has ten works. There is also another painting of a lady in a reflective mood, with her hand stooped to her chin. The painting looks real and alluring. “Yes, one day I was passing by at the National Theatre, Lagos, and I just saw her. I told her that I wanted to take her picture and she gave her consent. When I finished painting her, I showed it to her. She was amazed; yes she liked it”. The lady’s posing shows someone in the deep throes of life. With her scarf covering her head and flowing down her shoulders, she looked natural, cool and un-polluted. But Ogidi did not alter her face or disguise the figure. Here she depicted a true nature, a realism that speaks volume of a great artist on her way to the top. The light beams on her shoulder and using assorted and bright colours, Ogidi brought out the true beauty of this lady. “I didn’t want to take out anything out of the ordinary. This is what the pictures I take depict. Now my message is that those who want to make it in life should be consistent”, she said. Her palette knives focus more on moments of hustle and solitude. These, she forms into life and reality.
Ozangeobuoma, was trained at the famous Institute of Management and Technology (IMT) Enugu, where he studied Fine Arts. But beyond that, he is equally a builder, a construction engineer, a habit he combines with visual art to establish his own form of installation art. He believes strongly that building and drawing are intertwined; if one knows one, he could as well have the knowledge of the other. “Oh, this knowledge of both makes me a multifaceted artist”, he opined in an interview. “It helps me to make my art pieces easier. I am still on my usual type of art. I came up with eleven works for this group exhibition. You could see that the works are not basically different from my normal style – bold, big, expressive and informative. My works reflect on who we are, where we are coming from and then we think of where we are going. They are works that focus on our society; depicting what we do wrong, and what we do right. Even those we neglect to do or even dismiss as if they do not matter reflect in my works”.
“This is why imaginativeness which is the title of this exhibition is to show imagining from the known to the unknown. That is what I mean. Looking at my works, I feel that truly represents what my works stand for. I have shown three exhibitions in the past three years. I don’t think it is too much. But I try to work at all times. As a young artist this is the moment for me to be busy, so that time will come when I will relax a bit to enjoy what I’ve worked for. So, I don’t have to relent now”, he enthused.
Ozangeobuoma’s works are usually large, maybe it is to suit his huge size, someone teased. But he loves them so. “A lot of my works contain Nigeria’s plenty of problems as you can see from that one titled the pool. It is the pool of problems, the pool of scandals, the pool of the ills that plaque the people. Pool is about everything. It is about life. In life, you play to lose or you play to win. But you must play, for that is the way of life. There are too many hands inside the pool: It is clear for you to see. A man often fights to get things done in life and that is the pool.
“In it all”, he continued, “I love colours. I learnt a deeper lesson from Duke Asidere under who I studied after I left IMT. He is a marvelous artist. Art takes me from what I know to what I do not know. That indeed is the essence of my work. But by the time I finish, what I see before me satisfies me. In this way, my works talk to me and I talk to them. I enjoy such scenarios each time I am set to paint. This is because the expectation builds higher and higher and then propels me on and on”.
Essentially, colours, wonderful colours, in different tones and forms appeal to his senses. “A lot of colours appeal to me and I use them a lot to beautify my art pieces”, he said grinning. “Even my own life is colourful and this I bring to bear in my paintings”. He naturally loves mixed media because that works better with his type of art works.
Sometimes he uses acrylic and at other times he goes for charcoal. “Yes and more, and these work for me. When I finish my work, it is the end work, and I usually scream wow. This is wonderful. That too gives me more impetus to start a new project. I love this aspect of the creative process. The end work propels you to do more. It gives me deeper satisfaction so to say. For me, I am a mobile artist. I travel to different places like Enugu , Port Harcourt, Delta, Lagos, in all these places, I get my groove, ideas come into my mind. In the end, they form my art”.
Osanyemi is an Ikorodu-based artist from Ondo State. A graduate of Economics, he painstakingly taught himself fine arts. He is also a product of Alexis Artists in Residence Programme where he proved himself as an artist to watch. He has, indeed proved himself too soon, having been able to make the public truly believe in the efficacy of the contributions of Alexis to grow Nigerian art. Early enough, he discovered that he could not do without arts. He promptly went into self reflection soon after taking a degree in Economics. He loves realism due to his keen eyes on the issues around him. Usually his works are different. They are simple when he experiments in charcoal. To him, charcoal gives him the best flow. “It makes me glow”, he teased.
Osanyemi said “I use charcoal, papers and textbooks and my strokes are not usually definite. They can be rough on collage. My works indeed cut across love, romance, passion, life itself. Here I have seven works for this exhibition and each dwells on the true meaning of love. Love makes life go round. I also have nudity, purposely done in charcoal. It makes my message better and faster when I dwell on love. Indeed love goes with my artistic intentions. For me, no one can do without love. It is the absence of it that plunges the world into chaos most times. Let love be the gospel we preach so that more and more of problems will be removed from among us”, he said, as his eyes sparked with compassion.
He also has a series on the issue of love. It is even more interesting to see his works in charcoal, glittering and different from the rest of other works. “In this world, we should be tender, friendly and caring to one another. That is the real essence of life”, Osanyemi declared.
The exhibition which will end on May 25th will focus attention on the issue of Cerebral Palsy. In attendance at the preview was Nonye Nweke founder of Cerebral Palsy Centre, Surulere, Lagos. As usual, part of the proceeds realized from the exhibition will help for the upkeep of the children at the centre. Chidiac-Mastrogiannis said her love for the less-privileged knows no bounds. “Therefore, like I said before, it is time to give back to the society. Each time I see children in such conditions, I feel like giving more”, she explained.
As for Nweke, she equally has a child with Cerebral palsy. This contributed to her establishing the foundation in 2010. “Today, we have twenty children as inmates and we need to keep the place going”, she explained. She dwelt on many reasons why children are born with such defects and cautions that mothers should be more careful when they are pregnant in order to avoid more cases in the future.
Nweke’s concern is that the society frowns at such people. “But if they are taken care of on time, some will grow into meaningful citizens. Yes, it is a disease that affects the brain but it does not always make the person totally useless. Therefore, we need help; we also advise parents not to reject these children. Often, at birth they are dumped somewhere. This is not fair. We need to correct all this”, she said.
The exhibition is being sponsored by Pepsi, Mikano, Tiger, Delta Airline, Wazobia TV, Cobranet Internet Service Provider, iPractico, La Cave, Cool FM, Art Café and the Homestores Limited.
