'Self on Secrets' by Somi Nwandu, digital print on canvas, 50 x 50 cm, 2017 |
From
tomorrow, Sunday, March 11 to May 4, 2018, at The Wheatbaker, Ikoyi, Lagos, an
all-female art exhibition titled Unmasked raisses alarm over mental
health of women.
It's the third edition of an all-female series
'Standing Out' exhibitions curated by SMO Contemporary Art. Significantly, on
the occasion of International Women's Day, the exhibition "honours women
across the globe," SMO states at a press-preview held on the same day of
the global event.
Nengi Omuku, Djakou Kassi Nathalie, Somi
Nwandu, Nyancho NwaNri, Koromone Koroye, Reha Shishodia and Queen Nwaneri are
the exhibiting artists who have strong links to Lagos. But the artists come
from
different parts of Nigeria, Cameroon, the Gambia, India, and the U.S.
different parts of Nigeria, Cameroon, the Gambia, India, and the U.S.
In paintings, photographs, digital art,
ceramic sculptures, poetry & spoken word performance as well as a large
multi-media string installation, the seven exhibiting artists, explore women’s mental health challenges.
Citing World Health Organisation's statistics that says over 7 million
Nigerians suffer from depression with 4.8 millions (2.7%) suffer from anxiety
disorders, SMO also notes that "World wide is just 3% of total government
spending is for mental health."
Courtesy of two emerging curators who are also
health professionals, Nneoma Ilogu and Moni Oloke, Unmasked, is
supported by Louis Guntrum, and the Wheatbaker According to SMO, the exhibition
highlights complex questions of
identity, breaking down stereotypes, and dealing with societal pressures in
densely populated mega-city of Lagos.
“We believe that art is an
important tool for advocacy and change in society,” the two curators explain during
the press-preview. “We choose artists who have a
strong message and presence, and could help to publicize the need for society
to focus on the mental well being of women.” A curatorial notes adds that the artists
explore diverse emotional mindscapes and question what lies behind the mask:
'how do we break down societal constructs on what it is and what it takes to be
a woman in a male dominated society? How do women explore and present their
true multi-layered selves, and inspire others to demand for justice, break
through glass ceilings, avoid society’s obsession with perfection,
tear down walls of shame and guilt, and
rip off these stifling emotional masks.'
“Unmasked is a bold and honest expose
of what goes on within women’s mindscapes through the
intricate and emotionally charged work of these phenomenal artists,”
says Sandra Mbanefo Obiago, Founder & Artistic Director of SMO Contemporary
Art. The founder who is also the Wheatbaker’s long standing art curator
enthuses: “We are excited that the hotel
can advocate for better support for mental health in Nigeria by providing an
important platform for these vital issues to wbe addressed through art.”
The artists:
QueenTochukwu was born in 1993 in
Rome, Italy. She attended Obafemi Awolowo University, Ife, Osun State, Nigeria
where she obtained a Diploma in Fine and Applied Art in 2012.
She is reputed for her unabashed expressions
in which rich texture of colours give vent to her subject, often times in a
manner that escapes conventional exactitudes. As a portraitist, she draws her
themes from the mood of her subjects (women and children) as she situates them
in discourses; also allowing for spatial escape (as opposed to closed finish)
this opens up
extensive suggestions about her artistic concerns. She has
participated in several group themed exhibitions, her most recent participation
at the International art fair, Art X Lagos. She is also represented in North
America, by Cuverley LLC, an art management firm based in Atlanta, USA.
Her
works are in several private collections in the US, Germany, the Netherlands,
Republic of Benin and Nigeria.
Shishodia was born in Mumbai in 1977.
Art for her is life & all the shades to her personality are drawn out
through her creativity. Her paintings, multi media installations and video art
incorporate elements of socio-political, economic, religious and cultural
interpretations.
She
graduated with a Bachelor’s degree from the R.A Poddar
College of Commerce & Economics in 1999, and received a Diploma in Graphic
Design from the National Institute of Fashion Design in 2006. She has taken
part in many group and solo exhibitions across India, and done art commissions
for clients in India, Singapore and Italy. She draws inspiration from life
around her and dives into experiences from the past to the sensory. She moved
to Lagos in 2017 with her family.
Omuku
was born 1987 in Delta State,
Nigeria. Her paintings feature amorphous presences that float through ‘active’
or loaded spaces. Her work functions as a metaphor alluding to wider themes of
identity, mental journeying and mutual belonging. Omuku’s colour palette acts as a
subtext for transforming the human figure.
She
completed an MA degree and BA degree in Fine Art at the Slade School of Fine
Art, London, graduating in 2012.
Recent
exhibitions include At Work,
Arthouse Foundation (2018) Stages of Collapse, September Gray
Art Gallery, Atlanta (2017), the Armory Show Focus: African Perspectives, New
York City (2016), A State of Mind, Omenka Gallery, Lagos (2015) and Jerwood
Drawing Prize 2014, Jerwood Gallery, London (2014). She is the recipient of
several awards including the British Council CHOGM Art Award, presented by HRH
Queen Elisabeth II. Her work has been shown at international art fairs
including ArtXLagos, 1.54 London, and the Armory Show in New York 43
NwaNri, is a Gambian-Nigerian filmmaker
and photographer born in Lagos, Nigeria in 1988 whose work revolves around
African history, culture languages, spirituality and ethnic identity.
She
graduated in 2012 with an Honours degree in Digital Animation from the
University of Greenwich, UK. She is a self-taught filmmaker and photographer
who started her career at Disney’s ESPN and has since worked
in the Film and TV industry in the United Kingdom and across West Africa.
Her
works have been exhibited at various festivals locally and regionally including
Chale Wote Festival, Ndiva Women’s Film Festival (Ghana), and
the Lagos Photo Festival & Tamerri Festival (Nigeria). She has also taken
part in several group exhibitions in Nigeria.
NwaNri
was the curator of the photography exhibition at the inaugural edition of
Tamerri Festival- a first of its kind arts and culture festival in Nigeria, and
is also an accredited Canon film and photography trainer under the Canon
Miraisha Programme, conducting trainings and workshops across Africa
Koroye, born in 1991, is a spoken word
poet, creative thinker, writer, storyteller and all around phenomenal woman.
She obtained a BA in English and Creative Writing with a minor in Africana
Studies in 2012 and an MFA in Creative Writing with a focus on poetry in 2014
from Hofstra University, New York.
She has been writing poetry from a young age
but she discovered her passion for spoken word performance during her freshman
year in college. After her first time on a stage, she knew she had found her
calling as an artist. After completing her master’s in English Literature, she
spent a year working as a travel writer in New York.
She
moved back to Nigeria in 2015. She works at Flutterwave as a Marketing
Executive, and in her spare time, she writes fiction, poetry and creative
non-fiction as well.
Nwandu was born in 1993 in Maryland,
U.S.A. and grew up in Enugu, eastern Nigeria, as well as in the US. From an
early age she was fascinated with photography and spent years exploring digital
software alongside expressing her
creativity through writing, painting, drawings and fashion sketches.
She
moved to New York at the age of 17 to study Fashion Business, and International
Trade and Marketing at the Fashion Institute of @ and graduated in 2016. Somi
worked in New York City with celebrated international fashion brands like Tom
Ford, Macy’s and Alexander Wang as well
as Ruff ‘n’ Tumble in Nigeria. Somi is
currently completing an MA in Global Creative and Cultural Industries at The
School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London, while actively
pursuing her art in photography and fashion.
Nathalie
was
born in 1975 in Cameroun and attended the “Institut de Formation
Artistique”, a secondary art school from
1992 to 1995. Upon graduation, she received a full scholarship to the ‘Institut
Samba Superieur’ where she studied Ceramics
for three years. She became a full-time artist after university, and began
teaching the technology of ceramics at her alma mater secondary school.
Her
works have been featured in numerous group exhibitions in Cameroon, Europe, the
USA and most recently in Nigeria. She participated in the international fair of
Ouagadougou (SIAO) in 2012 and won the first African prize.
Nathalie
moved to Nigeria in 2015, and is now a member of the Society of Nigerians
Artists (SNA) with whom she exhibited in 2015 and 2016. She has also exhibited
at the Moorehouse Hotel, Lagos.
No comments:
Post a Comment