By Tajudeen Sowole
Beyond the metal foil, beads,
painting and pencil media that forms the content body of works by Joe
Amenechi, there is a mix of traditional art texture with other periods, which
seems to breathe fresh aura into the Lagos art exhibition circuit. Most artists
across generations now sidestep what the west has stigmatised as ‘naïve’ or
traditional art rendition, for obvious reason of fusing into modernism and
contemporary periods.
 |
For Amenechi's Pieces of Me, his
fourth art exhibition at newly opened Rele Gallery, Onikan, Lagos - currently
showing till July 2015 - it's time to revisit traditional art with a blend of
‘natural synthesis’ and flavour of modernism. Amenechi is clearly not a new
name in the Nigerian art space, but his signature appears to have been missing
on the art scene for some time now.
In environment
that is conservatively in favour of modernism, a rejuvenation of good old
traditional art form brews fresh breath, as Amenechi's works in bead, metal
foil and bronze radiate an aura of museum mystic. For example, a intensive bead
sculpture on wood titled ‘Faces On A
Totem’ as well as a metal foil version prepares viewer's mind for,
perhaps, a show with energy full of periods and genres in visual arts parlance.
Moving round the totem pieces and wishing they were kinetic, a wall hanging, ‘Garden of Eden’, takes over one's
attention. In beads, the biblical piece confirms the depth of skill in
Amenechi's bead setting technique, despite the graphically nude images of the
human elements that threaten to weaken the concept.
As the
totem pieces faintly expose the traditional art attachment of the artist, a
series, ‘Faces and Strangers I’
and II, in metal foil and
bronze, draws a thin line between Amaenechi's stylised faces or figures and the
naivety associated with traditional form. Perhaps, the form of the masks is the
artist's deliberate attempt to generate dialogue between the work and a viewer,
and by extension throw critics off balance.
In
fact, a bronze portrait ‘Untitled’
sandwiched between the totems and the set of ‘Faces and Strangers’ masks spread
on the floor of the gallery as well as the metal foil series make Amenechi's
eclectic features louder as one steps into the painting, pencil and
lithographic sections of Pieces of Me. Paintings on canvas such as the
portrait of three ‘Atilogwu Dancers,’
that are not actually dancing; common young male indulgence depicted in ‘Peeping
Boy’, moment of truth for students at ‘Examination
Headaches’; and portraits of Igbo chief, ‘Titled Men’ bring out the
modernist in Amenechi.
However, in ‘Warrior Heroes’, a Nok image depiction in painting and ‘Yoruba
Women’, there roves the artist's brushings over natural synthesis and
traditional or tribal forms. These set of works, perhaps, expose the real depth
of incendiary skills in Amenechi's art. For example, highly stylised, ‘Yoruba Women’ - a figural of four
ladies - comes bold in excavating the complete dress-sense of women from
southwest Nigeria. A three-piece ‘Buba’ (blouse), ‘Iro’ (wrapper) and ‘Ikpele’
(shawl) with gele complete the
resilience of a fashion that has transcended its Yorubaland birthplace. Also,
Amenechi's representational and compositional strength are not hidden in ‘Titled Men’.
And the
contrast goes deeper, widening the difference among Amenechi's three set of Pieces
of Me, so suggest the pencil and lithography works at the extreme end room.
Some of the works, mostly of portraits and events and done in monochrome could
pass for a semi-classic of the post-renaissance period.
As if the artist needs any further explanation
on what the show is all about. "Pieces of Me encompasses all of my various
artistic expressions in whatever medium I use," he explains in a text
provided by Rele. "It is not one story line per se, but a combination of
all of me."
Confirming his long absence on the exhibition
space of Lagos, he adds that the recent works in Pieces are to remind his
followers about the strong depth of Amenechi signature. "What I want this
exhibition to do is to make people aware of the recent works I’ve done;
reawaken an awareness and appreciation for my works." He hopes that his
"collectors, old and new, can be in touch with me and what I have to
show." Indeed, the consequence of his long absence is not lost coming into
this exhibition. "When people don’t hear that you have an exhibition, they
probably think that you’re not making art anymore, " he concedes, but
hopes that the show will refresh people's memory about his art.
For Rele, Amenechi's long absence and the
eclectic characteristics of his works fall into the gallery's concept of
showing something fresh. "Amenechi has many faces in him, which make his
art align with our vision of showing new things," Aderenle Sonariwo,
director at Rele states.
Born in Lagos, but a native of Ila, in the
old Mid-western Nigeria (now part of Delta State), Amenechi must have started his
sojourn gradually and subconsciously too when he was a student of one of the
founders of ‘natural synthesis’ form of art, Bruce Onobrakpeya at St Gregory’s
College, Obalende, Lagos. Amenechi would later proceed to Yaba College of
Technology, Lagos, where in majored in Painting under the tutelage of masters
like Yusuf Grillo and Kolade Oshinowo.
However, the foundation of his art tutelage
would not leave him; in 1985, he had his National Youth Service Corps at
Onobrakpeya’s studio and also worked there for two years, coming out with the
mastery of metal foil and plastocast – two main focus of his mentor and master
printmaker, Onobrakpeya. “Experimental
printing techniques, prints drawn from engravings on epoxy built on zinc
plates, printing in paper by intaglio methods, aluminum foil used to draw out
the image from an engraved epoxy plate and painted metal foil embosses on low
relief designs,” Amenechi explains in a conversation with the gallery.
 |
Beads work titled The Royal Family by Joe menechi
|
In a curatorial note, Rele states that the
artist also experiments with watercolor, oil, emulsion paints, sand, and beads.
The gallery discloses that Pieces of Me, is an exhibition of works spanning
over a period of years that encompasses several of his artistic expressions, in
their various media and with their varying themes. On the thoughts of Amenechi,
Rele explains: “Amenechi takes in his environment and addresses everyday issues
in his works. His most recent drawings bring to light the activities of
Nigeria’s political climate in the wake of her just concluded elections with
works like ‘Endless Poll Queue’ and ‘Jubilant Party Supporters’.
Four art exhibitions in about six months of
its short existence, is a commendable begging for Sonariwo-led Rele Gallery.
For every exhibition, from My Street Economics on March
8 – 22; Lagos Hustle & Hope, March 28, which ran for 3 weeks; and Strip,
held for over a month; and the current, Amenechi’s Pieces of Me, there has been
a high depth of curatorial content. The last exhibition, Strip featured works
of painters Ayoola Gbolahan, Ibeabuchi Anababa and Isaac Emokpae as well as
photographers Kelechi Amadi-Obi, Reza Bonna, Toyosi Faridah Kekere Ekun and
Luqor Oluwamuyiwa Adeyemi.
“Rele has been on the mission in different
capacities via art salons, installations since 2010, all of which crystallized
into the formation of a gallery in February 2015,” the gallery’s mission
statement reads in parts. “Rele, the space is an unprecedented, unconventional,
contemporary art space that marries two symbiotic purposes: to offer first-rate
art for public consumption and nurture the creators of the art, bringing the
world to their work, exposing a larger, global audience to African contemporary
art.”
No comments:
Post a Comment