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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