Kelani ABASS

The art year is closing in Lagos. The auctions are over, few exhibitions are planned for the remainder of the year and artists, dealers and collectors are already thinking of their Christmas holidays. And then, unexpectedly, Kelani Abass and Omenka Gallery give us a Christmas present: the exhibition “Man and Machine”.

It has been only four years since Kelani graduated at Yabatech as the best painting student, but in this short period of time he has moved from a conventional, stereotypical mode of representation, to an intimate, highly personal body of work. He seems to have left behind the market scenes, the skilful depiction of motor parks and road sides, and delved into the creation of an imaginary world where man and machine take the whole space. He has moved from merely re-presenting the surrounding environment, and particularly people, to enquire about issues, both personal and societal. That is why a purely formal analysis of his new works would be insufficient. Looking exclusively at their formal properties would not be enough. These works can be “read” at different levels.

I met Kelani in the morning hours, when only he and I were at the gallery. This allowed me the chance of listening to him without hurry and getting a better understanding of the background and genesis of this exhibition. He explained to me how the thread linking these recent works is the industrial printing process and the machines used to make it possible. His late father had a printing press and he spent countless hours there. Even before leaving primary school he was already involved in the preparation of artworks for the printing jobs. By the time he left for Yabatech, he was conversant with the mechanical processes involved in printing. And this was before the arrival of “offset printing” or digital imaging!. As he says in the exhibition catalogue: “it is fascinating to observe the way machines operate as different parts to achieve a common goal. This informs my thinking and my ideas, and thus inspires my art in this direction”. He is especially interested in the wheels, as central elements in industrial machines.

The influences are still discernible. The way he works the textures and the materiality of his canvasses brings to mind some of abstract works of Kolade Oshinowo, his teacher at Yabatech. The freedom with which he approaches them echoes the ways proposed by Mike Omoighe.

These works go beyond the easy realism. They are more in line with neo-expressionist experiments. There is in them a mixture of abstract backgrounds with superimposed figurative elements and applied objects. The play between real and drawn mechanical elements is particularly successful. And this makes me think of the way aesthetic and non-aesthetic (or should I say, visual and non-visual) properties interplay in the best samples of traditional and contemporary art. These works are beautiful to the eyes, but there is more than what the eyes see. There is something only the mind can apprehend, and it is this “something” that puts these works above the usual stuff.

There is restrain and these works and there is “soul”. They radiate warmth that is not only the result of the subdued and earthy ochres and greys. This is a personal story, and the canvasses abound in subtle personal references, like the insertion of a small photographic plate in which Kelani’s father appears. But he also transcends the personal and the intimate; the numerous references to political and societal leaders also show an artist going beyond “his” art. This is uncommon and this is encouraging. It seems, there is life after the market places, the motor parks and the other “genres” so sought after by tourists and nouveau rich.

It is always heartening to come across artworks of this quality. I am glad I did not miss this exhibition. I am already looking forward to the next one.

 

More on Ona movement

It has not taken long for Mufu Onifade to publish a strong answer to Moyo Okediji’s article on the origins of Ona movement. Today’s edition of Next includes the first part of Mufu’s rejoinder.
I would really like to know Wewe, Filani, Campbell and Nasiru’s views!!!!

On the Ona movement

When a few days ago I went to the opening of Moyo Okediji and Tola Wewe’s exhibition “The return of our mother” little did I know that behind the polite pleasantries of the opening speeches there were substantial art historical issues coming to the fore.
Neither Moyo nor Tola referred much to the origins of the Ona movement. Nevertheless, on Friday July 29, 2011 Moyo Okediji published in several Lagos newspapers an important article titled: Beyond Dispute: Origins and Travail of the Ona Art Movement . In it, he gives a brief, but clear, account of the beginnings of the Ona Movement.
This is very good news for those of us concerned about the dearth of rigorous documentation on the development of modern Nigerian Art. I hope Moyo, and the other members of Ona, can expand this summary story and provide a more detailed and comprehensive account of the movement.
This is the “hottest topic” in Lagos art circles, so, in case you missed it, I copy the links to the article as it appeared in The Guardian, 234 Next, and The Nation.
I wonder what Moyo thinks about the way the website of the Federal Ministry of Information and Communications refers to Ona.

Olu AMODA

Olu Amoda is not an ordinary Nigerian artist. His quiet and unassuming character veils a fiery spirit. He was born in Warri and he remains a “warri man”. The many years spent in Lagos have not dampened his readiness to enter into a “good fight” if the cause is worth. And he seems to find plenty of good causes.

I visited him recently. He works in two studios; one near Yabatech, where he is a lecturer, and the other in Mende. This was a rare privilege. One thing is to see his works in a “sanitized”, controlled environment and another is to see them in the open. They stand there, rusting quietly under the sun and rain while they mix with discarded bits and pieces, uncompleted works and “real life” objects (cloths hanging from a drying line, the papaw tree growing among his works, the discarded tyres…). His complete yard (drying lines included) would make a wonderful installation fitting for the Tate Modern or any other large exhibition space.

His recent stay abroad (almost four years) has not changed him much. He remains the artist that he was, and he is still the committed teacher that he has always been since he came to Yabatech more than twenty years ago. Clearly, Olu likes working with his students. A few days ago I met a young artist who had been taught by Olu in Yabatech. He told me the story of how one day Olu came to the classroom and announced that the next assignment would be “the mind of a Nigerian policeman”. The students were more than a little bit surprised. Olu told them to first figure out what was in the mind of a Nigerian policeman, then produce some sketches of works on that topic and finally to start producing a work. Olu did not tell them much about materials, styles, etc. His teaching approach was novel to the students, and it seems they loved it.

In his recent works there is an increasing interest on the intersection of literature, life and visual arts. Two of the works in his yard are part of a broader project. They are two horses that can be interpreted at different levels: they point at the two horses in the Nigerian coat of arms, but they are also a reference to two of the main characters in George Orwell’s novel “Animal farm”: the horses Boxer and Clover. His use of references is eclectic, he showed me also some pieces of a series of “bulls” he is doing using old bicycle handle bars as the horns of the bull. For a Spaniard like me, the figure of a bull resonates with multiple meanings. Olu incorporates some of them, but he also sees the bull as a metaphor of the “bully” (the big man syndrome) in the Nigerian society. He also mentioned the references to Fela’s song: “Roforofo fight”. I found interesting that this interplay of references, metaphors and symbols is embodied in physical works. These works are not mere decorative objects or dry unintelligible discourses on societal issues. These are real art works of great strength and formal quality.

Olu Amoda loves to use discarded materials, or as he prefers to call them “re-purposed materials”. For years, the ordinary steel nail has been a recurrent component of his works. For him a nail is a metaphor and symbol of linkage, bonding together separate (in many cases, disparate) items. He likes to use the nails recovered from pallets, crating boxes or carpentry work. In his own words: “Nails are used in my work as a metaphor. They have survived generations and remain one of the most ideal and enduring pieces of engineering. Nails depend on the notion of shared responsibilities, like ants. Small but lethal, a nail is able to defend itself, but yields to the will of the craftsman. What we call little things are merely the causes of great things: they are the beginning, the embryo and the point of departure, which generally speaking, decides the whole future of an existence.”

We had a long conversation. He told me about his preoccupation to produce works of art that are not only meaningful and capable of questioning peoples, mores and institutions, but also artworks that are beautiful. He told me about the positive developments and the good support he has from Rukeme Noserime, Adeola Balogun and other colleagues in Yabatech. We also spoke about the need to help young artists to develop professionally. I hope we can soon do something together. I am already impatient to see what it will be.

There are few teachers like him and there are even less artists like him. His students are lucky to have him back and a few of us are fortunate to have been given a “tour of his yard”, even if no time was left for a drink…

Uchay Joel CHIMA

There are artists that make big noise and produce very little. Uchay Joel Chima is not one of them. This morning, taking advantage of the Christmas holidays I visited him at Ebute-Metta. I was surprised by the large number of works he has in his small flat…

Like a few other artists, he stretches several canvases and works on more than one piece at the same time. Works at different stages of completion were all around. Unfortunately, there was no electricity, so I couldn’t see any of his video works, only the mixed media panels that he favours since a few years back.

Uchay has come a long way since he left IMT, Enugu more than a decade ago. His recent works are only vaguely figurative but the influence of Nsikak remains there. The concern for materiality and texture are the driving force of his pieces. His one month stay in Amsterdam in September has definitely broadened his approach to art, but his personal identity remains strong. He is one of the few young artists in Lagos whose works you can identify immediately in a show.

For many months he has been experimenting –this is a word that came up frequently in our conversation- with ropes, thread and strings. Sometimes they intertwine heavily and form a flat background on which one can barely recognize any form. Other times, particularly since he started using fibre sacks and white glue, the surface of the work is strongly textured and acquires a three dimensional quality that provides greater depth to the human forms he sketches.

After many hesitant attempts he is finding his way. His recent works have a serenity that was lacking in the previous ones with threads and strings. His palette has also become more subdued, earthier, with less pink and more ochre pigments, and this has also helped.

He is full of plans for 2011: another stay abroad, a solo exhibition in Lagos, a few more experiments with new media. The inclusion of one of his works in the Bonhams auction in New York last year was a high point of his career. Some other works are presently in London and in 2011 he would like to continue expanding his visibility abroad.

Few collectors or galleries in Lagos have his works. Perhaps this is an indication of how little inclined to experimentation the commercial artworld in Lagos is. The easy realism of the markets scenes, durbars, dancing Benin maidens, etc are still ubiquitous in exhibitions and shows. I hope Uchay is not discouraged by that.