A-ARTs: Balogun's 'Culmination...' of linking ancestral, contemporary frontiers

Dr Adesola Balogun with one of his works titled 'We Are Patching It's (multimedia, 96 x 96 x 34cm, dated 2026).

WHEN artist, Adeola Balogun, PhD, returns to the exhibition circuit with a solo exhibition in the next few days, his sculptures will be interrogating ancestral, history and the contemporary connection.

Balogun's solo exhibition titled Culmination: Linking Then and Now opens from November 1-14, 2026, at Metropolitan Club, Kofo Abayomi Street, Victoria Island, Lagos. The exhibition, as a body of work probes ancestral lineage, history, social consciousness, and the digital frontier.

in his Artist Statement, Balogun explained that the works interrogate the intricate geometries of electronic circuit boards and conductive track lines into sculpture and mixed-media painting. And applying transposed images of his previous sculptures and Gelede masks, Balogun seek to map the invisible currents that define contemporary existence through the lens of Yoruba cosmology. "These technological motifs are not merely aesthetic choices; they function as a profound metaphor for Ilà, traditional Yoruba tribal marks and scarification prominent on Gelede masks, re-imagined as contemporary cultural allusions."

Balogun noted that tribal marks serve as a sophisticated semiotic system: signifiers of heritage, protection, and social belonging. He views the "tracks" of a circuit board as a modern form of scarification. He argued that just as the blade once etched history and identity onto the skin, technology now etches its presence onto the body of our society. He stated that the "digital scarification" interrogates how people's cultural identities are reconfigured, encoded, and sometimes distorted by the rapid pace of technological advancement.

"The application of these conductive pathways across my sculptures and canvases highlights critical tensions, notably between technological infrastructure and cultural heritage," Balogun said. "I explore the rigid, non-negotiable logic of a circuit, where a single broken track leads to system failure; as a metaphor for our fragile social structures."

Excerpts from Balogun's Artist Statement: "My work examines systemic "glitches" in our political, social, and economic environments, particularly within the African context, where technological promise frequently clashes with infrastructural challenges. By applying these technical elements to tactile mediums like sculpture and multiple-mediums painting, I attempt to "flesh out" the coldness of electronics, transforming mass-produced, industrial symbols into intimate, hand-wrought expressions of human struggle and resilience.

Dr Balogun and his work titled 'The Veritable Intervention' (multimedia, 215 x 79 x 79cm, dated 2026).

"Through this hybrid engagement, wherein the images of past sculptures and Gelede masks are imbued with renewed possibility in a new exploratory space, I invite viewers to re-imagine the familiar and interrogate the intersection of history, culture, and technology."

Dr Balogun is a contemporary Nigerian multidisciplinary artist, art educator, and mentor. He is renowned for his multidimensional approach to art, seamlessly blending an active studio practice with a dedicated academic career at Nigeria’s foremost tertiary institution, Yaba College of Technology.

Over the years, Dr Balogun has built a formidable reputation as an artist whose work in myriads of dimensions breathes new life into materials often considered obsolete. His sculptures animated with a remarkable sense of fluidity that transforms everyday objects into vibrant artistic statement, engaging critically with societal conditions, cultural memory and lived experience. Through his work, he invites us to re-imagine the familiar and reflect on contemporary realities. His literal application of circuit board, alongside the adaptation of embedded circuitry lines as a signature motif has birthed a distinctive visual language.

He has executed a number of public monuments which includes: Obafemi Awolowo bronze statue at the Oba femi Awolowo University, Ife, the Symbol of Culture and Justice, Unilag, Towards Achieving Distinction, U.I, Funso Williams’ statue, Tamed, Sweden, After the falcons, Abu Dhabi, UAE. and many others.

Balogun has held fourteen solo exhibitions, several group exhibitions, participated in residencies, conferences and facilitated workshops in Nigeria, Netherlands, USA, and UAE. He has received numerous awards both nationally and internationally. He is a Fellow of Society of Nigerian Artists (FSNA), and an active member of Sculptors’ Association of Nigeria. He is the Art Organizing Coordinator in Yaba Art Museum, Yaba College of Technology.