By Tajudeen Sowole
Populated with miniaturised
nude figures, a body of work by Peju Alatise, shown as Preludes, Pretexts, Presumptions at Kia Showroom, Victoria Island,
Lagos, accosts behaviourial patterns, prosecutes and perhaps convicts norms
into the penitentiary of perception. But like every
artist who wields
their creative freedom in a complex task of reminding
everyone to visit the mirror, the
verdict in Alatise’s incendiary concept is piercing.
A visit
to the exhibition, three days after its formal opening, presents the artist's
oeuvre in an internal, three-way competitive texture between the materials
used, technique applied and the theme in focus. But with the truncating of
social structures in developing countries, particularly the Africa region, the
theme in this exhibition wins the contest despite the artist's display of
profound contemporary ebullience, particularly in her techniques and styles
energised by the diversity of materials.
As much
as the miniaturised sizes of the figures - in each artwork appears to shield
the nudity aspects, nearly all the body of work, each with more than three
figures, is unclothed, and exposes the covert nudity. However, the relativity
of when and how an artwork is perceived in whatever context is perhaps
depends on the space and outlet.
From a
set of burst figures titled ‘Prexist,’ dwarfed by the high headroom box-like
frame; to ‘Sleeping Beauty,’ a set of eight, coiled figures of women in
individual position; and ‘Bottom Power,’ seated women figures partly clothed,
but with protruding backside, the theme of the exhibition, unavoidably appears
caught in the flesh-mentality. And when, for example, the artist avers in ‘Sleeping
Beauty’ that the work questions men's penchant for always desiring "women
bodies," the complexity of contemporary oddity in gender re-definition
seems to have knocked out her argument. Women also desire women’s body in an increasing
rate of lesbianism across cultures.
From
the artist's diary of a social quake comes ‘Every Night They Sleep They Dream
Of Nothing,’ depicting symbols of a collapsed system that fuel hopelessness and
gross injustice. The series, perhaps the most profound, thematically derives
the deep message from its aged texture and malnourished figures placed in fragile
frame under the burst canvas. The theme, Alatise says, "is inspired"
by individual works of two cousins: late musician and very complex personality,
Fela Anikulapo Kiti's ‘Shuffering and Shmiling’ and song of fearless dramatist,
Prof. Wole Soyinka's The Man Died.
Given
the passion embedded in every artist, whose message or calling is hardly
selective of the face of receivers, Alatise's ‘Pretext...’ sternly pierces into
the face of everyone, perhaps including activists alike, to take another look
at the mirror.
There
is no doubt that Alatise's spot in contemporary African art space is profound.
But the artist's climb upwards the ladder of art market - beyond her Lagos,
Nigeria base, is not exactly commensurate with the deepening and enriching
texture of her skills.
For
Arthouse, this exhibition perhaps opens a new page in using alternative and
non-art gallery space. The third or fourth art show at the same spot, being
organised by Arthouse The Space, ‘Pretext...,’ given the breathing space
enjoyed by the artworks on the day of visit, there comes hope that subsequent
exhibitions here would not be choked, sharing same space with the glittering
cars while the show lasts.
Arthouse-The
Space, in its statement, argues that it ventures into art exhibition, as a
sister company from Arthouse Contemporary auction house to filll the vacuum of “white
cube gallery spaces in Lagos."
Its
mission statement reads, "We have aimed to shed light on the intellectual,
practical, and affective labour of the artist for the reproduction of society,
by opening spaces for sociability, association, and critical inquiry through
the objects they create. In West Africa, artists have been given material form
to the divine since time immemorial, bridging past and present in practices
that also produce wealth in social and political forms. Through this lens, a
work of art, far from only representing the world, has the potential to shape
and transform the intimate forms in which the world is experienced."
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