Femi Simpson’s ‘Landscapes and the Dignity of Labour’

Ferdinand Ekechukwu

A Photorealism exhibition opened at Freedom Park, Lagos on Good Friday 7th and will run till Easter Monday 10th April 2023. The Exhibition titled “Landscapes and the Dignity of Labour” is featuring over 40 paintings by 65-year-old artist, Femi Simpson.  As the theme suggests, the paintings show various landscapes such as Moseyo Beach in Badagry, hills in Ilesha, Greenland Dock in Surrey Quays, London and canals in Nottingham.

“The paintings depict subjects going about their daily chores and routines. These include truck pushers, hawkers, weavers, students on their way to school, artistes, and commuters as they board buses on their way to work,” Simpson said via correspondence. On his unusual style, subject and composition in which one sees a lot of details, he said: “This is photorealism. My painting takes its inspiration from my photographs.”

A retired teacher, writer, artist, Simpson, who has always loved the arts as a child, been fascinated with photography, said he had always been painting, initially with words. He explains further on his fascinating journey into photographic-painting: “Photo realism is a style of art, such as painting, with a highly detailed depiction of ordinary life in an extremely realistic way, with the exactness of a photograph.

“I have always been fascinated with photography; with the power of the lens; with the potential behind the shutter release button and the view of the world which can be captured in a single click. I have always been amazed at the ability to freeze time, moments, and occasions, if you will, and the possibility to share these cherished images with others. I had always loved the arts. As a child, I grew up in a house that was full of books, photographs, cameras, and tripods.

“Papa, as we called my father, was an avid reader and a member of several book clubs. He loved music so much that we had an organ and a piano in the expansive sitting room. Papa made sure that each child had a copy of Smallwood’s Paino Tutor.  Playing mostly on the organ, the girls – Idowu, Alaba and Bimpe would sing as he played. In the early 60s, probably before then, Papa had a camera with a remote control and a tripod with which we had family photo sessions.

“The first painting in this brochure titled ‘Racecourse Lagos’ was developed from a photograph that he took in the early 60s before Tafawa Balewa Square (TBS) was built. My interest in books, poetry and photography thus began at an early age and were to lead me to, and greatly influence my painting.  As a teenager, I read a lot of poems by John Keats, William Wordsworth, Oliver Goldsmith and other romantics.

“Young and impressionable, when I read Alexander Pope’s poem “Of the Character of Women”, wherein he was through words, painting different pictures of women, I knew I would do the same someday…Following my retirement from regular teaching, I had time to pursue my passion for photography and bought state of the art cameras. After my brief initial “apprenticeship” under Mahmoud Alli-Balogun, I was privileged to be further tutored for years and I am still being tutored by the Maestro, Don Barber.”