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MOYO OGUNDIPE: ANOTHER PALETTE STOPS


If one is to judge from the turbulent storm of constant death that has been kidnapping key players in the Nigerian art world, one would say that the art world needs to beef up security against the timeless messenger- death, but how can one guard against an enemy he do not see? Earlier this year, a pseudo-minimalist and metaphorical artist who clothed everyday experiences with idioms in the rendition and delivery of his art answered the gracious home call to hide behind robust visual images and kiss the dust; Ben Osaghae was indeed a lion in the field of art.

What can one say about a situation that do not allow one to bid farewell to his beloved people who has engraved his name in the slate of their minds and hangs a bell that rings at the mention of his name? It is arguably a fact that many Nigerian artists exist but there is little or no media attention on their efforts and activities in the sustenance of Nigerian artistic voice. Moyo Ogundipe is one of such artists whose artistic tenacity and dexterity enjoyed little documentation and coverage in his home country and he could not bid farewell to his aficionados as death took him on the journey of no return in the early hours of March, 2017.

He was born in Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria in 1948, a period when the agitation for the building of higher institutions in Nigeria was reaching its peak. This was as a result of the huge numbers of primary and secondary schools that filled the Nigerian landscape with half-baked students who served the colonial masters as clerks and stewards. The colonial masters were afraid of erecting higher institutions in the country for the fear of raising zealous soldiers who would eventually claim the country from them. As a result of this, Nigerian students were faced with the strenous task of travelling to Europe through schorlarship or funding to further their studies.

He had a Bachelor of Arts degree in Fine Art from the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University) and a Master of Fine Art at the Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore. He fled Nigeria in the 1980s as a result of the military dictatorship that clouded the country and stayed in the United States as a political exile for many years. He occupied a celebrated art space in an alien land that gave him comfort in an otherwise unsetling situation. 


However, he may be away from his home country for a long period of time, his artistic rendition-ranging from content, colour and form shows that his mind is closely linked to Nigeria. He visually proved that an artist’s mind is not limited by geographical locations and that his mind is a reception of images from the different parts of the world. He remained a Nigerian in mind and voice despite having little recognition in his homeland.

A painter of international repute, Moyo is known for his dexterous intricate form on large mural-like canvasses that directs a spectator’s eye to the compositional elements of his works. He returned home in 2008 with the aim of contributing his own quota to the growing awareness of Nigerian art by training young artists. 
  
His positive and philosophical view of life is manifested in his exhibition, Mythopoiea: “an unending search for the meaning and reason and rhythm of life” held at Omenka Gallery between October 15-22, 2016. He speaks in a mythic language that evoke flavours of African origin in its contents through the synthesis of poems and myth in the rendition of his visual images.

His artistic penchant got him the Pollock-Krasner Fellowship in 1996 and an invitation to become a member of Africobra (African Commune of Bad Relevant Artists) in 2005; this organization was founded at the period of defining Africa in the 1960s and and its membership belonged to distinguished African-American artists. The Nigerian art world will miss such an artist that took Nigerian art beyond geographical borders. Rest well Moyo Ogundipe.

  




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