In Next Episode, Dudu steps up the game

By Tajudeen Sowole

One year after brothers -- Emmanuel and Stanley Dudu -- had a two-artist display, Stanley returns with a change in the texture of his monochromatic work.

A pastel painting Words of Counsel by Stanley Dudu

As young as Stanley Dudu is, his strokes in pastel appears to be growing steadily just as he adds subtle colour in the solo exhibition titled, Next Episode, which opens from tomorrow at Alexis Galleries, Victoria Island. And when he disclosed that the exhibition "is a sequel to my first solo, New Episode," shown in 2009, his consistence and thematic focus became clearer.

 Between 2010 and last year when he showed Meet the Dudus with his brother, Emmanuel, faints of colour hues appeared on his pastel paper, so suggested some of the works seen at the exhibition. Currently, the hues have been thickened to add effect to the monochrome identity of his work. For Next Episode, the works, he said, include charcoal drawings and pastel paintings of over 50 pieces.

In one of the works titled Words of Counsel, a gathering of young female adults, the silk materials of the ladies' long headdresses, brought alive against brownish dominance of the background, stresses Dudu's skill in the mastery of pastel. Similarly, an outdoor piece titled Village Kitchen, flaunts the artist's creative extraction of colour in the black and white piece, highlighting the fire in yellow against the dominating colorless environment.

Patty Chidiac, the curator at Alexis Gallery describes Dudu as "a realist artist with great prospect." She disclosed that the artist who is also on the list of the gallery's artists "is among the best selling."

 Sponsored by the regular supporters of shows at the gallery such as Leventis, Litho-Chrome The Homestores Ltd , Art Café, Veuve Clicquot, wazobia FM, Nigeria info and cool Fm,  Wazobia TV, Cool TV, The Avenue Suites, Arra vineyards and ISN Internet Solutions Nigeria Limited, Dudu's Nex Episode adds to the efforts of very few artists who still promote the pastel and charcoal medium.  From 2004, Dudu stepped up his dream of becoming a good draughtsman as he stuck to charcoal and pastel, specifically, in black and white.

Dudu graduated at Auchi Polytechnic with Higher National Diploma) in painting in 2006.. His outstanding performance earned him excellence with distinction as the overall best student. After his short spell at the national youth service scheme, he has been practicing as a full-time professional studio artist in Lagos since 2008.

He has shown his works in over 25 group exhibitions as well as won several awards. He won the 1stprize in Nigerian Undergraduate Art Competition (2006) organised by Pat Kairos Foundation; 2^nd Prize at Nigeria’s constitutional Evolution, organised by Nigerian Institute Of Advanced Legal Studies (2009); 2^nd Prize Chronicles of a Great Nation at 50  (2010); Grand prize Celebrating 50-5 Independence & Rapprochemen Spain – Nigeria, organised by Embassy of Spain (2010); and Best Drawing prize Being Young at Life In My City Art Festivals/Rocana Advertizing Agencies (2012).