The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Wheatbaker

  • Artists celebrate Nigeria, Wheatbaker

    As part of activities marking the seventh anniversary of Wheatbaker Hotel, Ikoyi, Lagos, a group art exhibition, The Contemporaries 11, opened on Monday, featuring works of three contemporary artists: Kainebi Osahenye, Kenny Adewuyi and Kelani Abass. The exhibition is also to mark Nigeria’s 58th Independence Day. It will run till October 15. Simultaneously, it will open tomorrow till October 7 at 1.54 African Contemporary Art Fair in London, the largest fair of African Contemporary Art that attracts over 18,000 visitors yearly. The exhibition is supported by the Wheatbaker and Louis Guntrum Wines.

    Director, Wheatbaker Hotel, MrMosun Ogunbanjo, said celebrating Nigeria’s Independence Day together with Wheatbaker’s seventh anniversary as well as the exhibition reaffirms the hotel’s commitment to celebrate the very best of African creativity.

    ”The second edition of The Contemporaries continues the impressive standard set by the first quarterly exhibition we hosted in 2011, providing a regular platform for celebrating our exceptional local and international talents,” he said.

    Curator and Founder, SMO Contemporary Art, Sandra Mbanefo Obiago, who is delighted to showcase the artists on two important platforms at the same time said art is an important avenue for addressing global issues, adding: ‘We depend on our artists to be good global ambassador for Africa.’

    The group exhibition, which features 38 sculptures, paintings, and mixed media works from the artists, showcases strong visual narratives and powerful figurative abstractions, which explore historic socio-political narratives, the dignity of labour, technology, and the environment vis-vis unbridled consumerism.

    Osahenye, who majored in painting, combines spray paint with oil, pastel and acrylic to convey the idea of melancholy in his isolation series like ‘The Sky Gets Brighter Than Grey Shades of Your Thoughts—you used to be as sweet as pink,’ and others like ‘Broken Spirit,’ ‘Some Have Eyes But Cannot See,’ and ‘My Eyes Have Seen and My Eyes Have Heard 11.’

    According to the artist, pain is a part of life. Pain can drive one to a place of isolation. “In my work, the weight of darkness seems to overwhelm the sometimes anguished form layered beneath the somewhat grey and bright surfaces. The surface can exude grief, but I also like to camouflage this somber mood with colours that radiate energy. The energy that I seek or display in my work, in a way, appears like a prayer. And prayer to my mind possesses the potential to deal with pain,” he said.

    Osahenye’s work, which explores figurative gestures that interrogate society’s insatiability, said Nigerians have had bad times and still treading on rough edges.

    “The marks of pain are now deeply edged on faces of people across our landscape. We continue to sit and wait for a change to come. Indeed, Nigeria has been in a reclining position for too long waiting for her light to shine. Blinded by her corrupt practices, she is unable to see and utilise the enormous treasures buried within her,” he said.

    Coming from a printing press home, Abass, who finished from Yaba College of Technology, Lagos with distinction creates intricate multi-media works, in which small mechanical parts retrieved from his family’s printing press, are layered with photographs and archival materials as the artist explores personal stories against the background of social and political events frozen in time and memory. His ‘man and machine’ series on canvas explore the interchangeable co-dependency between man and technology.

    Abass’s oeuvre questioned common history and character of men and machines through a wide range of different media including installations, acrylics, oils, pastels and charcoal,  ”I engage the use of technology with the printing press, which I use as metaphor for obsolete materials, transporting them into modern relevance, usurping outmoded machinery and tools such as printing cases, letterpress types, metal plates, rubber blocks and the stamping tool to generate new contemporary narratives,” he said, adding that he is intrigued by how the past and present blend.

    “I attempt to make a statement on the future that concedes the interdependence of different moments in time. I explore these themes through painting, photography and printing, using archival materials to highlight personal stories against the background of social and political events frozen time and memory, he added.

    Adewuyi, one of the leading experts of emotive sculptures of elongated figures and exaggerated limbs, uses it in recognition of humanity’s universal struggle for survival and sustained livelihoods. His iconic sculptures are cast in bronze using the lost wax technique dating as far back as the ninth century in eastern Nigeria, keeping alive an ancient artistic tradition.

    “My sculptures express my inner feelings and communicate how I interpret my immediate and extended environment. Humans are social beings who cannot exist in isolation. My figurative bronze sculptures, in exaggerated and elongated forms, explore the day to day difficulties and challenges of human existence,” he said.

  • Wheatbaker hosts contemporaries for independence

    The Wheatbaker Art Gallery, Lagos  is hosting the second edition of the Contemporaries, an exhibition of 38 sculptures, paintings and mixed media works by three avant garde contemporary artists from Nigeria whose strong visual narrative and powerful figurative abstractions explore the dignity of labour, time travel, and the use of archival printing materials to highlight personal stories against the background of socio-political events.

    Kainebi Osahenye  combines spray paint with oil, pastel, and acrylic, experimenting with dynamic fluency and fluidity to explore figurative gestures which interrogate sociey’s insatiability vis-a-vis the earth’s limited natural resources.

    Kelani Abass creates intricate multi-media works, in which small mechanical parts retrieved from his family’s printing press, are layered with photographs and archival materials as the artist explores personal stories against the background of social and political events frozen in time and memory. His ‘man and machine’ series on canvas explore the co-dependency between man and technology.

    Kenny Adewuyi’s emotive sculptures of elongated figures and exaggerated limbs are in recognition of humanity’s universal struggle for survival and sustained livelihoods. His iconic sculptures are cast in bronze using the lost wax technique dating as far back as the 9th century in eastern Nigeria, keeping alive an ancient artistic tradition.

  • Standard IBTC offers solutions to schools

    Schools no longer have to worry about collection of fees from parents as Standard IBTC Bank has introduced various electronic platforms for easy transactions.

    Schools will now have multi-bank collection channels including online card payment via their websites, customised point of sale (POS) solutions, business banking online, as well as branded students identity card that can also be used as payment card.

    Speaking at the launch of the innovative education solutions at the Wheatbaker, Ikoyi, the bank’s Head of Public Sector Group, Personal and Business Banking,  Mrs Idu Okwuosa,  said many schools faced challenges keeping their financial books in order.

    She said: “Schools are faced with diverse challenges ranging from fees collections and reporting, salary payments, registration and record keeping to general administration.

    “We have provided more options and solutions to schools and we are also discouraging people from going to banks to make payments. You can actually do that in your comfort zones and the payment will be traced immediately to the child you paid for as long as you put the identity number of the child. The schools in turn get the message.

    “The whole idea started in Uganda and we want to reflect it here in Nigeria. Education is very important to any country and we give credit to Lagos State government. We want to partner with schools to help them solve their challenge, lend to them, most especially. We are actually adding more value to schools” she noted.

    She noted that IBTC goes beyond financial mediation as education is part of the bank’s Corporate Social Responsibility.

    The Head Merchant Solutions Digital Channels Acquiring Mrs Amaka Nwosu, explained that the bank’s aim is to provide seamless integration of the school’s portal system for validation of student information before payment is accepted. It guarantees extensive financial control of transactions, transparency across all payment channels and monitors the transactions.

    She noted that during the bank’s survey of schools’ financial challenges, it was discovered they need a simple and automated multi-channel solutions for receiving payments from parents/guardians/students/members.

    “They are also in need of integration of e-collection channels to the schools’ portal for ease of reconciliation, an efficient and secured solution for disbursing and managing petty cash expenses among others,” she said.

    Financial Controller of Corona School Trust Council, Mr Adewale Soremi  praised the initiative, noting that issues of collection of fees, how and when due and making payments to other various vendors have been a challenge for schools.  He said it will also re emphasie the importance of a cashless society.

     

  • Contemporaries holds at Wheatbaker

    Contemporaries holds at Wheatbaker

    As the global art world gathers in London next week for Frieze, tagged one of the “blingiest” art fairs in the world, The Contemporaries, an exhibition showcasing works by eleven cutting edge Nigerian contemporary artists, attracted much interest when it opened at the Wheatbaker boutique hotel, penultimate Monday. It will run till November 13 and is supported by Veuve Cliquot.

    The exhibition of 21 paintings, sculptures, drawings, and mixed media works is a timely reflection of current trends in Nigeria and makes stirring and sometimes, tongue-in-cheek, comments about a nation expectant of change. The Wheatbaker’s fall exhibition The Contemporaries, showcases leading and emerging artists including Nnenna Okore, Duke Asidere, Uchay Joel Chima, Gerald Chukwuma, Raoul Olawale da Silva, Anthea Epelle,  Taiye Idahor , Chika Idu , Adeyinka Akingbade, Tony Nsofor,  and Onyeama Offoedu-Okeke.

    A kaleidoscope of art that offers fresh perspectives on environment and development issues, feminism, unity, identity, history & tradition, and freedom of expression, draw on the artists’ unique heritage and perspectives. The exhibition is a robust exchange of ideas challenging its audience not to merely “think outside the box”, but to literally “stand on the box” and use it as platform to behold new vistas.

    Sculptor and environmental activist, Uchay Joel Chima, whose skillfully crafted charcoal and paper relief addresses rampant environmental degradation and security challenges is juxtaposed  against the masterly paintings of children swimming under-water created by Chika Idu, who tried to escape the nightmare of traffic gridlocked streets by relying on water transportation, only to be confronted with the daily struggles of coastal communities affected by dredging, pollution, flooding and all forms of urban pressure.

    Artist, historian and architect Onyema Offoedu-Okeke, presents Obstacles to Paradise on the theme of global migration showing the desperate fragmented surge of humanity across geometric paths of color and symbol, while master sculptor Gerald Chukwuma’s ironic multi-media work, CHOP, created out of an intricate pattern of plastic spoons on wooden slats, makes a strong comment on the social cancer of corruption and the growing gap between Africa’s well heeled elite and the increasingly disadvantaged poor; in the artist’s own words, there is “plenty food, plenty spoons and empty plates”.

    “Art reflects society within a constantly evolving socio-political reality,” explains exhibition curator Sandra Mbanefo Obiago, who started documenting the impact of contemporary Nigerian art in 2011 in a five part documentary series, Red Hot Nigerian Creativity, she produced and co-directed. “Its exciting to see how the contemporary art scene is making a positive impact on our international identity and confidence as Nigerians, as Lagos fast becomes one of the most-talked-about emerging global art cities.”

    The Contemporaries is offering visitors works which exhibit inspirational bold abstract human forms created by painters Raoul Olawale da Silva and Tony Nsofor, alongside the unusual biomorphic sculptures and installations created by internationally celebrated Nnenna Okore, in which twine, burlap,  and discarded newspapers touch on recycling, transformation and regeneration inspired by natural and man-made conditions within semi rural dwellings.

     

  • Contemporaries holds at Wheatbaker

    Contemporaries holds at Wheatbaker

    As the global art world gathers in London next week for Frieze, tagged one of the “blingiest” art fairs in the world, The Contemporaries, an exhibition showcasing works by eleven cutting edge Nigerian contemporary artists, attracted much interest when it opened at the Wheatbaker boutique hotel, penultimate Monday. It will run till November 13 and is supported by Veuve Cliquot.

    The exhibition of 21 paintings, sculptures, drawings, and mixed media works is a timely reflection of current trends in Nigeria and makes stirring and sometimes, tongue-in-cheek, comments about a nation expectant of change. The Wheatbaker’s fall exhibition The Contemporaries, showcases leading and emerging artists including Nnenna Okore, Duke Asidere, Uchay Joel Chima, Gerald Chukwuma, Raoul Olawale da Silva, Anthea Epelle,  Taiye Idahor , Chika Idu , Adeyinka Akingbade, Tony Nsofor,  and Onyeama Offoedu-Okeke.

    A kaleidoscope of art that offers fresh perspectives on environment and development issues, feminism, unity, identity, history & tradition, and freedom of expression, draw on the artists’ unique heritage and perspectives. The exhibition is a robust exchange of ideas challenging its audience not to merely “think outside the box”, but to literally “stand on the box” and use it as platform to behold new vistas.

    Sculptor and environmental activist, Uchay Joel Chima, whose skillfully crafted charcoal and paper relief addresses rampant environmental degradation and security challenges is juxtaposed  against the masterly paintings of children swimming under-water created by Chika Idu, who tried to escape the nightmare of traffic gridlocked streets by relying on water transportation, only to be confronted with the daily struggles of coastal communities affected by dredging, pollution, flooding and all forms of urban pressure.

    Artist, historian and architect Onyema Offoedu-Okeke, presents Obstacles to Paradise on the theme of global migration showing the desperate fragmented surge of humanity across geometric paths of color and symbol, while master sculptor Gerald Chukwuma’s ironic multi-media work, CHOP, created out of an intricate pattern of plastic spoons on wooden slats, makes a strong comment on the social cancer of corruption and the growing gap between Africa’s well heeled elite and the increasingly disadvantaged poor; in the artist’s own words, there is “plenty food, plenty spoons and empty plates”.

    “Art reflects society within a constantly evolving socio-political reality,” explains exhibition curator Sandra Mbanefo Obiago, who started documenting the impact of contemporary Nigerian art in 2011 in a five part documentary series, Red Hot Nigerian Creativity, she produced and co-directed. “Its exciting to see how the contemporary art scene is making a positive impact on our international identity and confidence as Nigerians, as Lagos fast becomes one of the most-talked-about emerging global art cities.”

    The Contemporaries is offering visitors works which exhibit inspirational bold abstract human forms created by painters Raoul Olawale da Silva and Tony Nsofor, alongside the unusual biomorphic sculptures and installations created by internationally celebrated Nnenna Okore, in which twine, burlap,  and discarded newspapers touch on recycling, transformation and regeneration inspired by natural and man-made conditions within semi rural dwellings.

     

  • Contemporaries holds at Wheatbaker

    Contemporaries holds at Wheatbaker

    As the global art world gathers in London next week for Frieze, tagged one of the “blingiest” art fairs in the world, The Contemporaries, an exhibition showcasing works by eleven cutting edge Nigerian contemporary artists, attracted much interest when it opened at the Wheatbaker boutique hotel, penultimate Monday. It will run till November 13 and is supported by Veuve Cliquot.

    The exhibition of 21 paintings, sculptures, drawings, and mixed media works is a timely reflection of current trends in Nigeria and makes stirring and sometimes, tongue-in-cheek, comments about a nation expectant of change. The Wheatbaker’s fall exhibition The Contemporaries, showcases leading and emerging artists including Nnenna Okore, Duke Asidere, Uchay Joel Chima, Gerald Chukwuma, Raoul Olawale da Silva, Anthea Epelle,  Taiye Idahor , Chika Idu , Adeyinka Akingbade, Tony Nsofor,  and Onyeama Offoedu-Okeke.

    A kaleidoscope of art that offers fresh perspectives on environment and development issues, feminism, unity, identity, history & tradition, and freedom of expression, draw on the artists’ unique heritage and perspectives. The exhibition is a robust exchange of ideas challenging its audience not to merely “think outside the box”, but to literally “stand on the box” and use it as platform to behold new vistas.

    Sculptor and environmental activist, Uchay Joel Chima, whose skillfully crafted charcoal and paper relief addresses rampant environmental degradation and security challenges is juxtaposed  against the masterly paintings of children swimming under-water created by Chika Idu, who tried to escape the nightmare of traffic gridlocked streets by relying on water transportation, only to be confronted with the daily struggles of coastal communities affected by dredging, pollution, flooding and all forms of urban pressure.

    Artist, historian and architect Onyema Offoedu-Okeke, presents Obstacles to Paradise on the theme of global migration showing the desperate fragmented surge of humanity across geometric paths of color and symbol, while master sculptor Gerald Chukwuma’s ironic multi-media work, CHOP, created out of an intricate pattern of plastic spoons on wooden slats, makes a strong comment on the social cancer of corruption and the growing gap between Africa’s well heeled elite and the increasingly disadvantaged poor; in the artist’s own words, there is “plenty food, plenty spoons and empty plates”.

    “Art reflects society within a constantly evolving socio-political reality,” explains exhibition curator Sandra Mbanefo Obiago, who started documenting the impact of contemporary Nigerian art in 2011 in a five part documentary series, Red Hot Nigerian Creativity, she produced and co-directed. “Its exciting to see how the contemporary art scene is making a positive impact on our international identity and confidence as Nigerians, as Lagos fast becomes one of the most-talked-about emerging global art cities.”

    The Contemporaries is offering visitors works which exhibit inspirational bold abstract human forms created by painters Raoul Olawale da Silva and Tony Nsofor, alongside the unusual biomorphic sculptures and installations created by internationally celebrated Nnenna Okore, in which twine, burlap,  and discarded newspapers touch on recycling, transformation and regeneration inspired by natural and man-made conditions within semi rural dwellings.

     

  • Contemporaries opens at Wheatbaker

    Contemporaries opens at Wheatbaker

    As the global art world gathers in London next week for Frieze, tagged one of the “blingiest” art fairs in the world, The Contemporaries, an exhibition showcasing works by eleven cutting edge Nigerian contemporary artists, attracted much interest when it opened at the Wheatbaker boutique hotel, last Monday, October 12. It will run till November 13 and is supported by Veuve Cliquot.

    The exhibition of 21 paintings, sculptures, drawings, and mixed media works is a timely reflection of current trends in Nigeria and makes stirring and sometimes, tongue-in-cheek, comments about a nation expectant of change. The Wheatbaker’s fall exhibition The Contemporaries, showcases leading and emerging artists including Nnenna Okore, Duke Asidere, Uchay Joel Chima, Gerald Chukwuma, Raoul Olawale da Silva, Anthea Epelle,  Taiye Idahor , Chika Idu , Adeyinka Akingbade, Tony Nsofor,  and Onyeama Offoedu-Okeke.

    A kaleidoscope of art that offers fresh perspectives on environment and development issues, feminism, unity, identity, history & tradition, and freedom of expression, draw on the artists’ unique heritage and perspectives. The exhibition is a robust exchange of ideas challenging its audience not to merely “think outside the box”, but to literally “stand on the box” and use it as platform to behold new vistas.

    Sculptor and environmental activist, Uchay Joel Chima, whose skillfully crafted charcoal and paper relief addresses rampant environmental degradation and security challenges is juxtaposed  against the masterly paintings of children swimming under-water created by Chika Idu, who tried to escape the nightmare of traffic gridlocked streets by relying on water transportation, only to be confronted with the daily struggles of coastal communities affected by dredging, pollution, flooding and all forms of urban pressure.

    Artist, historian and architect Onyema Offoedu-Okeke, presents Obstacles to Paradise on the theme of global migration showing the desperate fragmented surge of humanity across geometric paths of color and symbol, while master sculptor Gerald Chukwuma’s ironic multi-media work, CHOP, created out of an intricate pattern of plastic spoons on wooden slats, makes a strong comment on the social cancer of corruption and the growing gap between Africa’s well heeled elite and the increasingly disadvantaged poor; in the artist’s own words, there is “plenty food, plenty spoons and empty plates”.

    “Art reflects society within a constantly evolving socio-political reality,” explains exhibition curator Sandra Mbanefo Obiago, who started documenting the impact of contemporary Nigerian art in 2011 in a five part documentary series, Red Hot Nigerian Creativity, she produced and co-directed. “Its exciting to see how the contemporary art scene is making a positive impact on our international identity and confidence as Nigerians, as Lagos fast becomes one of the most-talked-about emerging global art cities.”

    The Contemporaries is offering visitors works which exhibit inspirational bold abstract human forms created by painters Raoul Olawale da Silva and Tony Nsofor, alongside the unusual biomorphic sculptures and installations created by internationally celebrated Nnenna Okore, in which twine, burlap,  and discarded newspapers touch on recycling, transformation and regeneration inspired by natural and man-made conditions within semi rural dwellings.

     

    Taiye Idahor’s intricate collage and pencil drawings called hairvolution weave a story of feminism and identity, complementing the works of fashion designer turned full time studio artist, Anthea Epelle, whose heavily patterned and textured canvases draw inspiration from the rich legacy of African cloth. On the other hand Duke Asidere’s deft play on red reflects the growing power of new technology in Freedom & Liberty, which grew out of the artist’s focus on the importance of protecting people’s fundamental right to think and explore, complementing emerging artist Adeyinka Akingbade monochromatic compositions, which appear a visual meeting point between eastern and western symbolism and calligraphy.

    “All these stirring works are a powerful mosaic of avant garde contemporary African expression,” concludes Mosun Ogunbanjo, Wheatbaker Director whose architectural and design legacy helped shape the hotel’s art focus. “The Contemporaries reflects the raw creative energy and opinions of a vibrant country with all its contradictions and potential.”