Bubbles of Emotions: An art exhibition by Adeola Balogun

By: Mathew B. Oyedele

Omenka Gallery is a three-sectional exhibition space with low ceiling. One should not expect less of contemporaneity in its constant exhibitions. However on the 17^th of June 2017, the room was filled with metals- all scavenged from the immediate environment of an artist.

The exhibition has a rather personal theme “Bubbles of Emotions” and consists of thirty-two sculptures- seventeen of which were hung on the wall while fifteen were placed on the ground, all depicting a set of striking metal sculptures that are borne out of the artist’s perception of his environment.

One cannot but notice the arrangement of the exhibited works in a pattern of bubbles. The globular works which are akin to the form of real bubbles bounced in their arrangements into the imaginations of the spectators.

In the exhibited collections of Balogun, there are quiet a number of works that are not globular in forms or nature but reveals the same social commentary as the globular forms. They are uniformly conceptual. His allusive titles have indirect references to societal rumbles, maelstroms and commentaries. A skeletal man who sits comfortably on a metal chair with two wheel-tyres bears the title “Vestiges of the Past”. In an interview with the artist, he stated that the elements that are combined to achieve the work were discovered in his grandfather’s house- the wheel is his grandfather’s cartwheel. His intention is to metaphorize Africa as a young continent that is ruled by septuagenarians and octogenarians.

Abundance

In a square-shaped work that was also executed with scavenged materials with the title, “When there is peace and harmony”, the artist made reference to the ambience of a peaceful society in his depiction of a submissive hen with a rooster. A number of chicks dominate the background like what a spectator might call the chicken farm. He did not undercut the objects that were placed before the audience with his titles.

Two extremes

His globular forms further emphasize the outburst of his emotions on the happenings around him. “Two extremes” is a piece in a rotund form that explores the two classes of people in every society- the rich and the poor. The artist heightened the content of the piece with engravings that calls to mind the financial structure of the society. His colours also created nostalgia of childhood memories of playing with bubbles. “We dey patch am” is also a commentary on the endurance of the citizens on the situation of the state. The artist employed crossed ropes akin to sewing on a rotund metal form to preach his message like an evangelist. The ironical part of the piece is how a rope can sew a metal. This could be a metaphor for the complex situations that citizens endure on daily basis.

We dey patch am

The soft nature of flowers was also imitated with metal sheets in the oeuvre of Balogun. Two figures standing upright and holding each other’s hands bears the title “Couple”. Their heads are both diagonal and their faces are devoid of facial features. With metal sheets, Balogun imitated flowers as clothes for the couple. “Abundance lll” is another work with floral motifs. Contrary to “Couple”, “Abundance lll” is like a bed of roses. Floral motifs which are only differentiated with sizes and colours dominate the entire frame. 

     

One could not but wonder how Balogun managed to capture what a thousand words could have articulated in an oeuvre of robust visual images that are accompanied with texts and engravings. This is true to a paragraph of an essay by the publisher of Position Magazine, Dapo Adeniyi, in the opening pages of the catalogue that accompanies the exhibition where he defends the artist as a skillful explorer of materials: “The application of materials by Balogun is as adroit as ever. He is the quintessential poet of materials, shaping meaning, creating inspiring and sometimes intriguing forms and shapes”.

For Balogun, new technologies are offering different ways of conceptualizing and producing art and he will be guilty if he does not project them. While a large number of practitioners still engage in familiar forms of art, he navigates the rich and unpredictable world of contemporary art like a sailor and has therefore established himself as an artist who initiates epiphanies by redefining materials that were otherwise referred to as wastes into valuable objects.

Every artist is committed to a style and Balogun is as committed to material exploration as Bruce Onobrakpeya is committed to experimentation. He projects himself as neither a sculptor, painter nor mixed-media artist but as a visual artist who explore his environment for materials and contents.