Kelani Abass is one of the most promising young Nigerian studio artists. He has not only won several awards, he is one of the three artists involved in contemporaries II, an art exhibition in Lagos to mark the 58th independence anniversary of Nigeria. He speaks to Edozie Udeze on why his works dwell on historical materials of yesteryears and more
Kelani Abass is one of Nigeria’s most promising young artists. When he started out some years ago, he was determined to make his works one of the most sought after by the public, art patrons and promoters. He was involved in the contemporaries II, an exhibition earmarked to mark the 58th Independence anniversary of Nigeria. The exhibition which opened at the Wheatbaker Hotel, Lagos, had other Nigerian artists on display. But Abass, a multiple award-wining artist who loves to explore new and old forms was quite outstanding when his works went back into time. The works explored the contours of yesteryears historical antecedents of a nation in the bowel of time, history and historiography.
The works dwelt on time in a special way and Abass believes it was time to remember and bring back to life through paintings those historical moments of time past. “What you see here are some of the materials used in the past by Letter Press to do its works. I have put them all into paintings to ensure that people would look back and remember those moments. Some of the materials are old, when the press was involved in cut-and-paste. Today it is computer”.
So what he did as a painter was to bring all of that into view. “But looking at the techniques, you see the combination of paintings and photography. This was a bit challenging. This is digital press laminated and it shows its historical origin per se. Some of the things I reproduced here in this presentation were used by my father’s printing press to produce its materials in the days of yore. This is like a tabloid and you see the way newspapers were produced before. These were the processes before they went into the machine”, Abass explained, nodding his head.
What his works depicted drew people’s attention to the exhibition of paintings. From the cut-and-paste era to this time when the computer is in vogue, it is the job of a curious artist to paint those old monuments for the sake of posterity. Some of the works came out tiny and in black-and-white because of the era when they happened. Some of the photographs predate independence. That indeed was why the exhibition was meant to mark Nigeria’s freedom, “It is not going backwards”, Abass responded. “It is to go back into time to be able to move forward. That’s the basic idea and concept here”, he said, smiling.
“Most of my works these days talk about time and memory”, he decided, pointing to one of his works on the wall. “The works look at the materials we’ve used in the past. I use them to make outstanding statements artistically. If you look at this one, you can also see some new medium, some new techniques. For instance the digital print here is today’s materials combined with yesterday’s materials. It is to prove that both can come together to form the art of today”, Abass explained.
What has then happened to his oil on canvas? Abass took his time to respond even when he is sure he has not totally deviated from this. “Oh, you see that this work is oil on canvas”, he said, pointing. “Look at this, it is still oil on canvas. So, I still paint oil on canvas. I am still in it”, he reassured, looking the reporter squarely in the face. “The works are not bigger and bolder because the materials with which to do them are expensive and scarce to come by”. As an artist, Abass had to make do with what was available considering also the level of artistic values attached to them. He said, “I was not able to make them bigger than these because they are heavy. And again I tried to make use of the size of machine that was suited for these. The size of the machine is not bigger than these materials”.
The materials were archival references made available to him by the Letter Press, Lagos. The press handled some newspaper printings in the past. So some of those old pictures, mainly tiny and in black and white, were given to him to paint and photograph. “Yes, some of the old pictures were handled by my father and brother in the early 1960s in the press. The press was owned by my father”, he said.
In order to ensure that this process goes on, Abass has begun to collect more materials. “Yes, I have started collecting more materials”, he enthused as his face creased with hope and determination. “Some people are either destroying these materials or selling them. So, I buy. I will keep making these sorts of works so long as I get the materials. I don’t do this works to get recognition. But I do it to document the past. A lot of people may not understand. But what my work does is to help people look back and understand. People have to see these past items through art works, through paintings and photography. Most of the youths today can see and appreciate these through this exhibition. And that is why we are here”.
It is also possible that when people see these old items, they can go into research to unearth more. So as it is, more artists can equally help through their works to preserve the past and help history to prosper.