A Visual Ode to African Womanhood 

Azuka Nnabuogor, a Lagos-based artist, ventures into his first solo exhibition, revisiting the familiar theme of African femininity in an aesthetic style that hints at restlessness. Okechukwu Uwaezuoke reports 

These sombre-hued paintings—portraits, more precisely—eloquently proclaim this artist’s restless groping for a distinctive style. They do, however, share a common theme that centres on womanhood. This is even when this very theme takes the cake as one that artists in the local scene seem to never get enough of. Even so, Azuka Nnabuogor delves into this ostensibly over-flogged subject in his debut solo exhibition, which opens on Sunday, July 23, at the National Museum in Onikan, Lagos, with the intention of wringing out a unique selling point that will not only pique the interest of his growing fan base but also inspire them with awe.

In the looming exhibition, titled Feminin Africaine, the Delta State native, who was born in Enugu, extols black African womanhood as embodiments of pride, beauty, willpower, hope, and resilience. This is at the risk of sounding anachronistic by rehashing a theme that was once de rigueur with the adepts of the Négritude movement.

Perhaps one distinguishing element of these portraits is the artist’s endeavour to coax out emotions from the still 2-D images, which manifest their contents through different figurative expressions. He apparently initiates his creative process by exploring the emotions, questions, and aspirations that he ascribes to his subjects. This, of course, is always against the backdrop of his association of black African women with inner strength and beauty—attributes that he hopes to immortalise.

Painting black women—or having the inclination to do so—is a vocation that the 1996 Auchi Polytechnic graduate does not seem keen on giving up soon. Harking back to the historical exploits of black women, he waxes lyrical about their influence on his work, adding that they are a reflection of his creative odyssey. “Their gaze, poise, facial expressions, tribal marks, and different shades and colours of eyeballs continuously enrich me,” he muses.

Extolling the virtues of women, meanwhile, implies a recognition—even if it isn’t articulated verbally—that wells up from the artist’s deep-seated awareness of the inestimable subtle values she possesses. Indeed, a woman’s tendency to gravitate higher, towards what is finer, more delicate, and therefore less dense, makes her a treasure that every serious man instinctively strives to protect.

Despite Nnabuogor’s allusion to his aesthetic credo as a work in progress, he highlights it as a portal through which he leads his viewers into a deeper appreciation of his compositions. “I try to improve on it every day,” he enthuses. “I will not rest until I perfect my act. My collectors are excited about my development. It can always get better.”

Obviously, the artist’s concept of beauty extends beyond the physical attributes of his subjects, as his sometimes, albeit unintended, unflattering depiction of their physiognomy attests. This explains his reference to the long history of oppression endured by the black woman under her oppressors and his suggestion that beauty and strength emanate from her very existence as a cultural phenomenon.

“I think what makes a black woman beautiful is her strength and determination to endure bad times as well as good times. They stay true to their goals and morals in any situation. They possess the ability to swallow their pride and keep moving. Even when those around them turn away.

“There is nothing more attractive than a woman who is focused, motivated, and strives to succeed. She is a powerful force, and they have made significant contributions to our world, from activism, business, art, professional careers, and politics.”

If the artist’s effusive admiration for womanhood appears to outstrip his efforts to distil this sentiment into visible forms, this could be due to an orchestration of these impressions along intended aesthetic channels. As a professed admirer of Duke Asidere and Bob-Nosa Uwagboe, he seems intent on evolving a signature style—perhaps a cross between the duo’s—by which his paintings would be easily recognised. The result? The female figures in the largely acrylic-on-canvas paintings sometimes assume stylised forms, sometimes verging on the otherworldly.

Art had found Nnabuogor during his sanguine childhood years. Then, he recalled, he would want to draw on any surface that availed itself to him. And this sometimes included drawing on sand. Then he had parents who never stood between him and the expression of his creativity. “They supported me with materials,” he reminisces. “They knew I would end up an artist.”

This explains why he didn’t have to think twice before eventually choosing art as a career. Thus, the passion for drawing and painting that burned intensely within him wouldn’t admit any rivals. His post-graduation years saw him first training as a welder for two years, then working as a steel contractor for an Israeli firm, CSA, which is based in Apapa, Lagos, and finally being employed as a project manager for another Lagos-based company, Nostalgia Designs Ltd. He would later establish his Antique Studios as a full-time studio artist by 2010.

Besides this debut solo exhibition, which ends on Saturday, July 29, Nnabuogor has participated in several group exhibitions both within and outside Nigeria. He wakes up each day before heading to his studio with the mindset that diligence pays.