By Tajudeen Sowole
Norwegian artist, Bente Vindvik's
solo art exhibition of paintings titled A
Nordic View of Nigeria and currently showing for three weeks at
Quintessence Gallery, Parkview, Ikoyi, Lagos is one parting gift that presents
the host country as a place of colourful paradox and energy. Vindvik, an expatriate
who lived in Angola for three years and is currently on her way out of Nigeria
after staying here for four years will also be taking some African values with
her to Norway, so suggest the thematic contents of her paintings.
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Blue Woman, a painting by Bente Vindvik |
During a preview for select guests, Vindvik
showed paintings of ordinary people on the streets, whose activities "are
full of energy,” colourful birds captured from the back of her Ikoyi residence
and quite some images that stress deep interest in her host community. For
example, Independent, a back view
portrait of a lady and Blue Woman, a
close view face explain what the artist meant when she disclosed that "I
see hope in the Nigerian woman." In fact, the portraits, she added,
"are inspired by the hope I see in these women."
Vindvik is not exactly an artist that has a
distinct kind of styles, either in her brushings or forms; the body of work in A Nordic View of Nigeria could have come
from as many as two or more artists. The eclectic texture of her oeuvre, she
said is almost spontaneous. "My identity is subject to the mood and the
way I use colours at a particular period.” And also, the environment, books and
music play vital role in energising the mood. For example, her interest in
African literature and art appears to have swelled some of the native contents
in her paintings.
“My mission as an artist has always been to recreate
what I see in my own very personal way,” Vindvik said, stressing a seemingly
styles implored in some of the portraits. “I am not a
naturalist," she warned, despite what she described as getting "
inspiration, sometimes, in trying to recreate people and other living things as
accurately as possible."
On application of light, the climate back home
influences the brightness of her canvas "Light fascinates me because
in Norway we have a lot of light in the summer with very long days.”
Coming from a country of 5 million people to a city of about 20 million in
population seems to give Vindvik some kind of theatrics perspective to life in
Nigeria. "The energy on the streets here is amazing compared to my country
of five million people." And the art in Nigeria, she noted, imbibes the
strength on the streets such that. "I am impressed with what I have seen
so far."
Also, one of the interesting captures of
nature on her canvas is titled Small Talks, a conversation between birds. From her window in Ikoyi, Lagos Island, she had
noticed the " colourful birds that inspire me to recreate them on
canvas." But the rendition of the image on canvas takes the stylised
aspect of Vindvik 's.
She recalled how her journey through the
colours and energy of Africa started after stepping onto the soil of Angola
seven years ago. In Angola, "everywhere
you had the red, ochre-coloured sand and vegetation shifting from deep green to
the greyness of the semi-arid coastal areas." Leaving the former Portuguese
colony, Vindvik had a group exhibition with the locals in Luanda after working
with the artists. "It gave me a lot of inspiration to be in that
environment which is so different from my home country.”
Vindvik had training as art and design
teacher at the Telemark University College, Høgskolen in Telemark, Norway
and studied Art History at the
University of Bergen, Norway. She is also trained in diverse areas of art, from
1984 till 2014,
Her bio says she has shown at various
exhibitions in the Norwegian cities such as Stavanger, Sola, Sandnes and
Flekkefjord. Through workshops, she
sharpened her skills in sculptures and paintings under Prof Reidar Berge, Prof
Hugo Wathne, in Norway; Prof Aase Heidi Moran and Prof Peter Esdaile, in the
US. And at the Vrå College in Denmark, she had additional training in acrylic
technique.
She had also participated in exhibitions at
Gallery Celemar in Luanda, Angola and in various excursions to study art and
artists to UK, France and Italy.
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