By Tajudeen Sowole
Despite the perceived 'diificulty' in scaling down concepts to small
canvas, four artists have succumbed to the mood of end the year season by
creating miniature sizes to boost art collecting.
At the lobby of Moore House
Hotel, Ikoyi, Lagos, where the works of the exhibiting artists - Fidel Oyiogu, Ronke Aina-Scott, Monsuru Alashe and Ademola Adeshina - were on display under the title Pastiche,
the aim of the show appeared to have worked out as the attraction and urge to
pick at least a piece of the miniaturea was in the air. "This is the
season of gifts, And art should be part of celeb ration," Tayo Ajimoko,
creative director at Zapha Rield Ltd, the promoters of the exhibition told one
of the guests during the opening.
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| Dance Steps by Aina-Scott |
For the artists, the
miniature concept was a good experience, but came with its challenge and
exciting experience too. "I don't do miniatures,"Aina-Scott said.
And having b eing dragged into it by Pastiche, "I love the
experience." She however disclosed why she used to avoid miniature.
"I don't like sketching in small sizes." But after giving testing it
and to the point of paintings, she realised there so many benefits. One of the
gains of showing in miniatures, she argued "is that you can have a set of
works that could be bought easily." Oyiogu whose works, usually, leaned
towards the large canvas could not hide his challenges coming to terms with miniatures.
In fact, he showed 20 pieces, only one or two of which included medium size.
"It's a big challenge for me, technically and financially," he said.
The experience of Adeshina
and Alashe differs slightly. "I actually started my career with miniature
over a decade ago," Adeshina, the only abstract artiist of the show
recalled. But after, the
experience, he admitted was not the same having to make small pieces in large
numbers. Alashe was perhaps the only artist among the group that had his
technique of mesh screening photography naturrally keyed into the scope of the
exhibition. He explained that his
style and technique had always come in miniature. However, he looked forward to
making large size." I could do big works with the same technique."
Aina-Scott's subjects are diversified,but mostly inspired by the African woman in
society. She has stayed true to her muse in the motifs employed in creating the
mosaics in the current exhibition.
Oyiogu at once a conductor and puppeteer
carefully guiding the viewer to arrive at a personal interpretation of the
composition while offering road maps in form of superposition and
superimposition of shapes and textures.
Alashe is an
experimentalist who uses
wool, woven materials and photography. His work addresses
everyday situation and topical issues that strike at the heart of societal
norms and ills.
A self-taught artist, Adeshina presents a large
range of paintings which can be interrogated in several ways.
As a textile designer, he has been experimenting on pointillism with the
application of African motifs
The hotel lobby space for
art exhibition was a familiar terrain for Ajimoko and Oyiogu who, few months
ago showed the latter's solo
titled Illusion of Reality. Zapha
Rield had also shown Lekan Onabanjo's works at the same venue.
Ajimoko explained the focus of Zapha Rield. "We are committed to supporting and promoting
authentic African art, designs, ideas and discuss on a different trajectory
from the usual. We believe quite strongly at Zapha Rield that
African art in general and indeed Nigerian art is the next frontier, a beacon
attracting the klieg lights of the world. While it currently experiences a
healthy growth, it has a potential to grow in leaps and quantum beyond our
wildest imagination or illusions and realities. In the eternal words of Friedrich Nietzsche, the essence of all
beautiful art, all great art, is gratitude. We are confident that attending the
exhibition will lift the spirit and launch the viewers into new realities and
they will be gratified by the visual experience that awaits them."
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