Two visual artists, Raoul Olawale and Wura-Natasha Ogunji, beckon art lovers to an exhibition in Lagos, AKEEM LASISI writes
In a year that Lagos State has lined up a series of activities to mark its 50th anniversary, The Temple Muse, Victoria Island, has opened its 2017 art season tagged Expansion of Time, featuring 33 paintings and one mixed media installation created by two multi-ethnic contemporary artists, Raoul Olawale da Silva and Wura-Natasha Ogunji. In the package, the artists explore the concept of time, history, connections, and improvisational flow.
According to the organisers, Da Silva and Ogunji are both Diasporan artists who returned to Nigeria a few years ago to discover a deeper meaning to their creativity and ancestry.
“Ogunji’s coming of age as a woman of colour in the United States inspired works which look at the issues of identity, feminism, and draws on deep cross-continental memories. She is a recipient of the prestigious Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship and has received grants from The Pollock-Krasner Foundation; The Dallas Museum of Art; and the Idea Fund. She has a BA from Stanford University and an MFA from San Jose State University,” the curator, Sandra Ogunji, notes in a statement.
Ogunji expresses her African ancestry in hand-stitched drawings made on architectural trace paper, often referencing the daily interactions and frequencies that occur in the city of Lagos, drawing on dreams, reveries and imagination. As an award, winning artist with an impressive resume of exhibitions held at leading international museums in Europe and America, he uses strong cultural iconography, such as familiar Ife head sculptures inserted into modern conversations and spaces, connecting past and present. Her exploration of physicality, endurance and gestures of the body is expressed through her drawings, performances, and videos.
Obiago adds, “On the other hand, Da Silva’s large, bold, colourful abstract paintings on paper and canvas, are a perfect counter-point to Ogunji’s delicate, small precise drawings. Da Silva’s creative voice is expressed through art and music and it is inspired by a passion for surfing, skateboarding, and environmental activism. Da Silva’s experiments with powerful improvisational brush strokes flow from a conscious abandonment to intuition. He graduated from the University of Applied Arts in Luzern, Switzerland in 1998, and has worked as a full time studio artist ever since.
“Da Silva attempts to defy the passage of time by depicting flashes from memories and dreams on canvas, paper and skateboards; fluid strokes which reveal ancient symbols, patterns, repetitions, and speak a strong visual language. His large canvases and eclectic installation of worn-out skateboards point to a conceptual race on a dynamic vehicle which gives him the momentum to fly across space, much like Wura’s two dimensional characters.”
She notes that Expansion of Time tells their story, from the outside looking in: two creative souls exploring, seeking, sometimes even battling, to come to terms with cultural anomalies and political incongruity.
Sponsored by UBS, the Swiss international Bank and Moet Hennessey, the exhibition will run until April 28.
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