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| 'Family Picture', (mixed media (30x38in, 2019), by Chinedu Ogakwu. |
After pushing the
technique into the consciousness of art aficionados, over the last four years,
Ogakwu returns to the exhibition circuit, showing Ilimite-II from December 6-13, 2019 at National Gallery of Art, Temple Avenue,
Enugu. A borrowed French word, ‘Illimite’ means unlimited, but adapted by Ogakwu
to enhance his mixed media works on canvas.
As the new exhibition
is set to highlight Ogakwu’s dexterity in mixed media, the artist explained that
it’s a concept is “unhindered by space or time.” With cracked canvas that is also
textured in aging technique, Ogakwu brings themes across contemporary cultural
genres to spice his works.
On roughened canvas
of partly reflecting textures, the artist, for example, in a group of
figurative titled Matters of the Moment
coalesces pseudo-silhouette style with cracking technique. For some parts of
the cracks, the artist creates spots in painting, perhaps to decode dialogue
among the converged figures.
Quite a number
of the works heading for the exhibition highlight fashion trends alongside
socio-cultural statements. Such pieces include ‘Conviviality’, ‘My Lady’, ‘Family
Picture,’ ‘Headgear’, ‘Owambe’ and ‘Status Symbol’.
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| Chinedu Ogakwu |
Softening
textures from the cracked and aged canvas techniques is ‘Status Symbol’, a
mixed-media painting that derives its aesthetics from the cubism style implored
by the artist. From the figure’s haircut to the two-piece suit, a grand fashion
statement is radiated as the background enhances the texture of the composite.
As an art piece, the painting speaks volume across contemporary cultures. In
corporate and hip-hop taste, ‘Status Symbol’ represents a blurring line being
generated by the digital age, so suggests the cubism technique that also
radiates semblance of reproduced robotic imagery.
With the
intimidating and rising profile of other visual genres such as installations
and others loaded in the avant-garde forms, some painters, most often are now
compelled to be louder in contemporaneity. And the refuge for such expression
is usually the application of loud materials. For Ogakwu’s Illimite technique, which obviously derives its strength from the
artist’s lavish application of materials, there is more statement to his themes
beyond the heavy layers of mixed media. He noted how “intense passion and
immense love of nature” has been the pedestal on which his art is mounted. The strength of the materials applied is
generated from what he listed as wood bark, ropes, ‘camouflage canvas, nets,
wallpapers, jute fabric, among others. “These materials compel me to combine
diverse sources; inspirations from my background, culture and life experiences to
create feelings that scratch the walls of my being in an attempt to escape into
the natural world.“
From his
thoughts on values comes ‘Family Picture’ series, in which the artist stylises
figures to depict three persons that represent father mother and a young adult.
Ogakwu’s style and technique in the texture of the paintings adds strong value
to the bond that exists in an ideal family. Again, there is something about every
theme of Ogakwu that carries fashion statement along, so explain the ‘Family
Picture’ series, among others.
Also, in ‘Conviviality’,
the artist brings similar style and technique to continue his celebration of
people in bonding, Ogakwu further brings
his thought on fashion trends onto canvas in quite a number of pieces. Among
such is ‘Head Gear’, in which a lady’s moulded head wear, her sunglasses and
blouse combine to make urban pop culture of contemporary Nigerian outfit. The
mixed media piece indeed celebrates the importance of ‘gele’ (head wear) to
most Nigerian women as regards modern and contemporary fashion.
When
pronounced application of materials becomes an artist’s passion, there comes
other value beyond aesthetics. “By this transformation, natural materials and
sometimes wastes, are given new relevance,” Ogakwu explained in his artist’s
statement for Illimite-II. “One can
discover endless little details, and to me every new piece is a challenge.”
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| ‘Status Symbol’ mixed media (50x50inch, 2019), by Chinedu Ogakwu. |
He argued that
using objects on most of his wall pieces goes beyond creating a “3D structural
quality to the compositions, but also questions what time really means when one
is lost in it.”
Ogakwu had traced
the trajectory of his cracked and aging canvas techniques to a project themed ‘As
Old As Man’. The concept, he recalled, set him out in experimenting with
naivety of how ancient artists generated their forms and proceeded to appropriate
such into contemporary space.
The experiment in ‘old’ forms would later
create what he termed as the timelessness of his focus, interpreting of a
subject matter to transform “into rich, vibrant, radiant, bold and uplifting
colour that timelessly awaken the soul of the viewer.”
Every artist
has either a commercial or critical emotive attachment to a particular piece of
art. Sometimes, the emotion attached is hard to let go. For Ogakwu, its about
“elation, contentment and ultimate satisfaction of the feelings I experience on
completion of each work, which further fuels my drive and zeal to begin yet another
one.”
Still on his art ideology or philosophy, as
regards Illimite, Ogakwu said: "I believe that comfort zone kills, opportunity
dances with those on the dance floor, the worst of you is today and your best
is tomorrow, and your limit in life is within mind.”
Ogakwu set out as an artist from the
self-taught wing of art education. He recalled that his self-taught background
prepared him ahead of formal art education at Higher National Diploma in
Painting at Institute of Management Technology (IMT), Enugu.
Currently a full
time studio artist, based in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Ogakwu’s Artist
statement
Says: “His works often engages impulsive combination
of forms, color, scale and perspective, calling into question how the viewer
processes visual information. He uses visual metaphors as platform from which
he not only investigates daily life and challenges of man, but employs colours
in a native aged style to express his idea. This gave room to one of his
successful project titled ‘Stone Age’ (As Old As Man.)”
-Tajudeen Sowole.
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