Artsdiscourse

  Chris Afuba remodelling 'Otiigba'. Source: Facebook. Chinezim Moghalu Chris Afuba is a post-war Nigerian artist from Nimo in Anambra state, who was born on June 3, 1947, in Ogidi, Anambra state. His father moved from the Onitsha city with him to Nimo when he was very young. Afuba indicates: "as far back as I could remember, when I was five, my mother's kitchen was being built with local materials, and being as we were preparing meshed mud, which they used in those days in building walls, instinctively as a child I went to where she was doing it, pounding it with her legs and making it malleable, and I was attracted to the material because it was soft and malleable. I scooped a handful of lump and began to model. The first figure l modelled was a police man- just a bust; small in size. I was excited and I had to admire it. In no distant time, because red-earth mud is not too plastic, it cracked and broke. I saw it breaking off and, instinctively I got a stick, remov...

Oba of  Benin, Innocent Akhigbe 2019 Mathew B. Oyedele Innocent Akhigbe’s delineation of African personalities is dramatic and mimetic. It recalls the importance of every moment of laughter, victory, action, purpose and bravery. It also highlights how time gets frozen by the hands of the artist. One recalls the photographic collection of Ike Ude , a Nigerian born New York photographer, entitled, “ Nollywood Portraits: A Radical Beauty” where he graciously created a dramatic atmosphere of light and colour. Contrarywise, Innocent’s portraits are mostly rendered in black and white, but his generous use of chiaroscuro is the main element that spices up his renditions. The process begins by planning and visualizing the subject on the loom before interlacing his weft back and forth to highlight the disposition of his subject. Nelson Mandela, Innocent Akhigbe 2018 He confides that the artistic ambience in the city of Benin has offered him a great deal of philosophical k...

By: Mathew B. Oyedele This writer cannot but start by narrating his first encounter with Eyayu Genet’s painting. It was an encounter of a colourful and intense communication. On this day, I went through my notifications, my messages and back to my timeline. While scrolling through my timeline, a frame of colours hit my retina with a forceful iridescence that made me pause for minutes; I had stumbled on a painting. I later saved the painting for subsequent examination and appreciation. Reading into its iconography was strenuous but the formal analysis of the painting wouldn’t let you give up on it. The dominant form in the painting occupies the right side of the frame and the only vivid image I could see is an image of a head of a cow whose horns reaches to the sky. There is a house at the left-foreground of the painting that stands apart from the rest of the images and the interplay of warm and cool colours offer a perspective visage into the painting. “In that pai...

By: Mathew B. Oyedele His studio walls were barely empty except for a painting that drapes a corner of the studio. He was working on a portrait of two women who wore bright expressions on their faces. I was about to ask him why his works were not on display when he delved into a corner of his studio and took me on a voyage of ankara interaction. I could not refuse the captivating rhythm that encapsulated my mind from his artistic oeuvre. I came across his works through the social media and I was attracted by his intricate use of Ankara as a medium of expression. I studied his works as he uploaded them at intervals and made an appointment to visit him in his studio. “My use of ankara is something that came from the blood. It was a gift from my mother. I think she passed that gift to me indirectly. Instead of me becoming a tailor, I see myself sewing those clothes on canvas”; this was his response when I asked him about his discovery of the medium. Uzoma is not a social co...

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 ...

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 art...