By
Tajudeen Sowole
Also, to
many of his followers, he is a full-time studio artist. But he is a quiet and
natural teacher who takes time off the practicality of the palette to engage in teaching through workshops and seminars. And when the occasion arises at gatherings or
on social media, he argues fiercely in support of the kind of art he holds dearly.
Olusegun Adejumo, during one of his lectures. |
As a painter, Adejumo has established
his skills through many solo and group exhibitions spanning a period of 25
years post-training. He has leaned more towards portraiture themes,
consistently using his palette to research women and their elegance of fashion
as well as exploring the anatomy of the softer gender's sensuousness.
For his sculptural indulgence, little
was known in two and a half decades until now as he prepares for a solo art
exhibition holding in a few weeks. But the same cannot be said of his art
resource part, which he says happens quite a lot. And having regularly engaged
in the intellectuality of creating art, he appears grounded in the battle of
superior argument, particularly on issues relating to art and its
contempporaneity or otherwise of it.
On the academics or intellectuality of art appreciation, as
well as appropriating art, Adejumo discloses that "unknown to many, I have
spent more time lecturing, informally, on art as a quiet lecturer." Some
of his activities in that context include History
of Nigerian Art, given this year at Red Door Gallery, Victoria Island,
Lagos courtesy of The Nigeria Stock Exchange; in 2013 Breakfast With The Creatives, also at Red Door Gallery; Sharing My Work Experience in 2012 at
Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile- Ife, Osun State; in 2011 at OAU Ife, Surviving As a Visual Artist in the 21st
Century Nigeria; in 2008 Nigerians at
Work at Africa Art Resource Centre (AARC), Lagos; and in 2007, Young Artist and His Market Place- Swimming
Against the Tide at Art Zero, Lagos.
As if reading the mind of his guest
during a chat, he asks: "who am I?" The rhetorical question comes
after his response on the gradual, but long-awaited changing face of Lagos art
scene. From the conservative and perhaps "repetitive" themes, artists
who derive strength from the modernist tradition appear to be imputing, faintly
though, quite some change of contents. Adejumo is a consistent and stable
portraitist of the modernism rendition. Are the modernists succumbing to the
pressure from advocates of contemporary contents? "Not necessarily,"
he cautions. Artists, he argues, are not expected to be static. "We have
to move from one state to another, and still maintain your identity." He
notes that contemporary art, as being proclaimed these days "is not fine
art."
Indeed, contemporary practice has, over
the recent decades, been expanding the scope of visual arts beyond the
confinement of fine art, making the relativity of creative or conceptual
contents more subjective. But Adejumo, a member, Guild of Professional Fine
Artists of Nigeria (GFA) insists that fine art embodies or defines visual arts
more explicit. "You can find contemporary art inside fine art, but not the
other way round." Art appreciation, he stresses, should be truly based on
how the content appeals to the viewer, noting that most "contemporary art
thrives on volumes of literature to get people's attention."
But can literary support be divorced
from contextualising and appropriating art, particularly in the 21st century?
"A work of art does not need literature to be appreciated." In fact,
Adejumo submits that conceptual content such as "installation and
performance should have fallen under something else, not art."
Although he denies being under any influence of the
contemporary tide, quite some changes are, of recent, emerging on his canvas -
away from the traditional portraiture styles. For examples two of his works
heading for auctions in Lagos and London exude some contents completely
different from the Adejumo one knows too well. "It's part of the change
every artist desires," he insists. And still on the change, his next solo
art exhibition titled Emotion, he
discloses, takes a step further into the making of portraitures. It's about
sharing the feeling or chemistry that exists between a model and the artist;
and the evolvement of a girl into womanhood. The themes of the show are spread
across paintings, drawings and sculptures.
WOMEN
as subjects on Adejumo’s canvas have been given quite a large space over the decades.
In his last solo Ideal and Ideas,
held at Nettatal Luxury, Port Harcourt, Rivers State three years ago, Adejumo
delved into Niger Delta narrative. He also touched on ladies' subconscious
arrogance of beauty, stressing his artistic passion for beautiful women of the
south-south region. This much he expresses in works such as ‘Figure Narration’
— a semi nude painting; a social gathering depiction, Sitting Pretty and Gele,
as well as a charcoal work, Wrap. He
adds poetry, not "literature" to stress his admiration of the beauties
from the region. “Beauty is an attitude for these women; you don’t need to tell
a southern woman she is beautiful because she knows it already.”
However, that exhibition also had traces of contents sharply away from his
usual style of brush romance with ladies portraiture. For example, the
piece, Take Six, melts the dreaded
image of the Niger Delta militancy into hip-hop culture in a six-figure
rendition of young males.
The exhibition, basically, was in
sympathy with the struggle of the Niger Delta people. Undoubtedly, a Lagos boy,
but Adejumo had part of his youth in Port Harcourt. So, among the works that
express the sympathy are two
sides of abstraction such as Pages Static and Pages Rotation, he
ages the canvas, as an attempt to express the pathetic side of the
region. While insisting that the people of the region are peace
loving, Adejumo argues, “it’s not the image of the Niger Delta that’s battered,
but that of the entire country.”
And
that he had chosen Port Harcourt for the show stressed his attachment to the
region. “I lived in Port Harcourt throughout my secondary school days. I know
the people and have friends among them.”
Over
the decades, quite a number of factors, he notes, had fractured the unity of
the country. “As a student at Unity School, we didn’t know the tribes of your
classmates because we were not conscious of such diversion.”
In
sympathy with the struggle of the people, the artist defends one of the heroes.
“Saro Wiwa was not about militancy, but environmental activism.”
Adejumo
the sculptor is an escapist. Moulding or carving, he discloses, are refuges for
him to ease out tension or stress. “After a stressful moment, I find comfort
using my fingers to mould.” So over the years, he has done qite some sculptural
pieces that he thinks are worth showcasing. Some of them goes into the Emotion show.
A rebellious teenager, Adejumo
abandoned studying Architecture at University of Lagos for Fine Art at Yaba
College of Technology (Yabatech), Lagos. Two years after, he emerged the Best
Over All Student in Painting, 1984. Again, he attempted Architecture, but
“turned back on my way to University of Jos, and returned to Lagos for my HND.”
History would record Adejumo as one of the young Nigerian
artists who were bold enough to see the prospect in full-time studio practice.
He joined the unfurling new phase of Nigerian art in the early 1990s,
Adejumo was born on September 30, 1965
in Lagos. He served as Assistant Lecturer, Painting at the Lagos State
Polytechnic and later worked as a visualizer and illustrator at Advertising
Techniques Limited from 1991 to 1992. He co-ordinated The Young Masters Art
Trust.
Some of his past shows include Make a wish- fundraising exhibition in
support of breast and cervical cancer, Bloom Project, City Hall, Lagos; 2007 Expressions, Sandiland Arcade, VI Lagos;
2004 Lately, Truview Gallery, Lagos; 1998 On Request, American Embassy guest
house, Lagos 1997
Recent Paintings, Chevron Estate, Lagos 1994
Recent Paintings in watercolour, Fenchurch Gallery, Lagos; and 1992 Diverse
Siblings, Centre Culturel Francaise, Alliance Francais, Lagos.
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