AN EVENING OF TRIBUTE TO BEN OSAGHAE

Ben Osaghae

An evening of tribute was organized for the Late Nigerian artist, Ben Osaghae by the Guild of Professional Fine artists of Nigeria at the National Museum, Lagos on the 30^th of March 2017. The programme was preceded by the renaissance of old relationships and the invention of new ones in an evening of a creative discourse as professional artists of diverse forms converged to narrate their various encounter with the late artist.

As a founding member of the association and a member of the Society of Nigerian artists, the programme was held to honour the late artist, appreciate his artistic life and to locate and situate his involvement in the Nigerian contemporary art world. It was also to affirm the association’s aim of celebrating Nigerian artists.

Creating an ambience of reflection was the slideshow of Ben’s works of art that were enveloped with metaphoric and idiomatic expressions. It took the audience to the immediate gesture of the artist and positioned the works as an experience rather than objects of display. The tribute commenced with the arrival of the Obi of Onitsha who occupied the high seat alongside Mrs Edewor, Jess Castellote, Kunle Filani and Chie Ede Dafinone. 

  

Dapo Adeniyi paying his tribute 

A foremost Nigerian art critic, Jess Castellote reiterates why he documented the artistic tenacity of Ben Osaghae; “he was always looking for happenings in the society and always have something to say. He was a natural artist who liberated himself on the canvas irrespective of who buys the work. He would work from memory with wonderful sketches that are so expressive and wonderful. His figures are generally emotional and are not static.”

Mrs Edewor, a long time collector of Ben Osaghae’s works described him as a brilliant mind, an intellectual and a social commentator. With passion, she narrated how she was arrested by the rich and vibrant colours of Ben’s paintings on her first encounter with his works. “Ben used colours in such an unusual way and expressed himself in colours,” she said. 

   

Ben Osaghae was invited to address the audience through a documentary that was shown by a friend of the late artist, Dapo Adeniyi. It created a feeling of nostalgia as the late artist’s room was shown with his paintings that permeates the actual medium and closed the distance in time between the documentary and the audience’s way of looking at it.

It is arguably a known fact that Ben Osaghae has left a significant landmark that is artistically visible, remarkable and impactful in the Nigerian Contemporary art world. His works have also gained a new kind of impressiveness in diverse homes and establishments that they occupy not only because of their content but also because of their new market value.