LAGOS art scene, penultimate Sunday, witnessed the debut of a new initiative that links the creators of art pieces, collectors, curators and critics with a group exhibition showcasing three artists,Duke Asidere, Yetunde Ayeni Babaeko, Kelechi Amadi-Obi in a lurch new hospitality facility that seemed built to fit the purpose.The new, if near novel concept, dubbed, The Collector's Series was launched with the trio's show of paintings, collage and art photography. With the showing amid the fresh-paint-aroma of Wheatbaker Hotel, Ikoyi, Lagos and the ambiance of soft music within and fountains outdoor, the group exhibition served not just as a launch of a new idea but a subtle hint that there could be better-engaging ways of serving art shows ' beyond the conventional art gallery walls.The furious brush strokes, drawings and spray gun splashes of Mr Asidere, served in vibrant colours were all 'singing' on the freshly painted walls of the hotel's first floor. His collages too, some of which are already popular products of his studio's era of sponteneous 'protest imagery' (late 1990s through first half decade of new millennium) appeared to have reincanarted in new mood. The paintings of the period in which dismembered women's limds, lumped spot colours in engaging modes, and painted as if he was in a hury to ejaculate his disgust with certain situations but eager to stay true to his views came out so clearly and beautifully that even when the always thrilling painter served less than a score works the floor was full of stories that told a lot about the artist's ouvre. So much went into the curatory that the collection served a succint capsule of Asidere's studio.'I just paint. I wake up in the morning, walk into my studio and just paint. I strive to remain sincere to my emotions. I try not to goad anyone or goad my mind to paint this or that. I just paint... pour it out. And that is what you see here. Just me... Just slashes of what I do in my studio,... even the spray paintings which are recent things. They just capture my fantasies,' Asidere said of his collection. Downstairs, the tought-provoking photographs of Mrs Ayeni-Babaeko and Mr Amadi-Obi dot the walls through, bars, restaurant, walk ways and halls. And like in Asidere's exhibits, the curator strives to serve the viewer a capsular collection that sums the tilts of each artist's studio. 'Not many remember that first and foremost, I am a painter. The world know me now more as a photographer but the truth remains that my photographs really came as a result of my paintings. Actually, when I cae here (Lagos) after (graduation from) Law school, all I was doing was painting. I was taking photographs of models for my paintings. And in the process of going to dark rooms to develop the images I took with my camera, I discovered that I can really do most of the things I do in my watercolours with my camera in the studio dark room. That was how the serious photography side of me started. Then I started deeper quest into certain things in photography and even the whole lot of things I do with the camera and my brush expanded in frontier. So this collection captures that early part of my photography, from the study of studio model to the blossom into conceptual art pictures. Like the study I did on women's headtie, Gele. It combines what I do with models in fashion photography and the traits of my watercolour,' explained Amadi-Obi. Through the display the blooms on the heads of female models in his Gele series and his mastery of play with body forms tickle the viewer's fancy. 'Sometimes I see the curvatures in human body like subtle edged sand dunes in a desert,' explained the attorney turned frontline painter and photographer.And on her's, Ayeni-Babaeko, the very observant mother with keen love for theatrical images and very feminine expressions said: 'I just want the world to savour the woman's world ' what we love and what we fancy. I just fancy the woman as one whom our male-dominant world would understand more by watching her display her moods, fantacies, nuancies and, if you like, naughty habits too.'And through her sharp oft well-exposed and clearly printed blackand white snap shots the world of women come open and bare ' vividly readable like the viewer's palms. From Ayeni-Babaeko's lenses the woman who loves her jewelries come alive as much as the one who loves to play with lillies and butterflies. Similarly, the lady who puffs away her cigarette with delight. 'Yes, women smoke too,' enthused the young mulato artist who is a mother of two, 'and in this our part of the world, it could strike us as a rarity.'Ayeni-Babaeko is just real, punchy and meticulous. Even as she is the youngest and least established of the exhibiting trio, she holds her podium confidently. Such titles as Keeping your Senses, Ready for Battle, Protection, Amazon and Tangled, make her collection as vocal as they are audacious and powerful, if feminist. The entire spectrum buttress the view of Mrs Sandra Mbanefo-Obiago of The Collectors' Series being a platform that serves artists with remarkable works and rich studio thrusts. The project fishes out people who create art that connect strong messages that tell the world the really long way, Nigerian modern art has come. 'It is an initiative to increase art appreciation, strengthen and showcase Nigerian artists and invest in the growth and expansion of the art industry,' states promoters of the initiative.In the exhibition 24 of Asidere's works including paintings, sketches, and mixed media pieces dating back to 1997 mounts the walls along with 10 Amadi-Obi photographs (his Emotion Series shot in 2000; Bodyscapes and Gele in Bloom Series) and Ayeni-Babaeko's 11 pictures expressing her predominant theme of women's 'beauty, strength, power,
Click here to read full news..
