Artists Challenging Rigid Notions of Conformity 

In a group exhibition in Lagos, five artists question ingrained assumptions and the generally accepted limits of certainty in their environment. Okechukwu Uwaezuoke reports 

Perhaps one of the group exhibition Fluidity’s most noteworthy features is its curator’s conscious effort at packaging, aimed at prompting deeper reflections about issues bordering on human experience. This is why the inclusion of performances of original poetic compositions by Ayodele Olofintuade, Egbaiameje Omole, Joseph Omoh Ndukwu, and Prince Charles at its Saturday, July 22 opening makes very good sense.

As its curator Tony Agbapuonwu suggests, it deepens the exhibition’s impact and adds a transcedental dimension to it. “These beautiful poems capture the essence of fluidity and further engage the audience in a thought-provoking exploration of the exhibition’s themes,” he muses.

Talking about the exhibition’s themes, which, though swirling around the concept of fluidity, seem to moult into deeper dimensions the more the viewer contemplates them, they seem unable to lend themselves easily to verbal expression. Hence, keywords like “flow and movement” as well as “form and formlessness” jostle for the viewer’s attention.

As for the five exhibiting young artists, who were loosely dubbed “new-age” by the organisers, they seem to have already garnered some form of recognition in local art circles. Indeed,with their track record so far, the artists—Stanley Ugonabo, Nneka Chima, Akanimoh Umoh, Seyi Akinwumi, and Kehinde Awofeso—are firmly on career trajectories that hint at promising futures.

Besides lifting the veil on their potential, the ongoing exhibition at AMG Projects gallery along Rasheed Alaba Williams Street, off Admiralty Way, Lekki Phase One, Lagos, which ends on Saturday, August 5, also directs the viewer’s gaze to their idiosyncratic peculiarities. Starting with Ugonabo’s figurative expressions, which evoke elements of subtle materiality, dream-like emotions, fragility, and periods of solitude, their messages jostle to assert themselves. Really, it is hard not to attempt to draw parallels between the 2019 University of Nigeria, Nsukka’s study of human anatomy and similar studies by the late renowned British painter Lucian Freud. After all, the artist’s well-known proficiency in the use of oil paint and watercolour appears to have sufficiently advanced to take him to masterful heights. Critics wax lyrical about his particularly “esoteric” command of colours, which he uses to emphasise a dramatic sense of motion through twisted facial expressions, movements, and postures. “These paintings serve as a reminder to periodically disconnect from the noisy and chaotic external world and find moments of peace and tranquillity within ourselves,” he says in allusion to his offerings in the exhibition, which is subtitled Exploring the Boundaries of Form and Embracing the Ever-Changing Nature of Life.

Among the quintet, a second artist, Umoh, a graduate of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, stands out for his ability to work with a range of mediums, which include charcoal, pastel, acrylic, and watercolour. Thus, he delves into current social challenges, common human experiences, and ideas of intimacy and fantasy through his hopscotch through emotional landscapes. He depicts chaos and tranquillity as vital components of the human experience through a clever blending of reality and fiction employing the fluidity of watercolour, hazy backgrounds, and figures lost in daydreams. “For me, the flow of watercolour represents freedom, escape, therapy, and sensuality,” he corroborates. “The artworks in this exhibition blur the boundaries between reality and fantasy, creating a world where both states of consciousness intertwine. Here, consciousness exists as a continuous awareness of our thoughts, feelings, perceptions (internal events), and surroundings (external stimuli).”

Then there is the Ahmadu Bello University graduate Chima, who, through a painstaking printmaking process, leads viewers to the nostalgic recesses of her childhood memories, where fact and fiction as well as curiosity and imagination mingle freely. Her appropriation of linocut printmaking both as a visual language and storytelling tool dates back to her undergraduate years. “My artwork tells stories derived from everyday occurrences, dreams, premonitions, past events, and even potential future events. I draw inspiration from the unexpressed thoughts, feelings, and expressions of people,” she explains about her works, which, though usually monochromatic, sometimes incorporate other mediums like gouache and ballpoint pens.

Akinwunmi, the fourth artist who studied supply chain and logistics management at the University of Warwick in the UK, declares her preferred mediums to include Indian ink, charcoal, watercolour, acrylic, and collage on Fabriano paper. These materials provide immediacy, proximity, and transparency, allowing her to express her personal experiences and intimate memories of living as an artist in Lagos, her cherished home. The artist, who describes her work as “intuitive, intentional, and unapologetically emotional,” also makes reference to them as portals to both her more personal recollections and her immediate surroundings, adding that, for this exhibition, she drew mostly from her own life experiences. “Lines and the materiality of mediums play significant roles in my artistic practice,” she discloses. “Every line and gesture reminds me of a language emanating from the rhythms of the heart, soul,and mind. When these elements synchronise, the result is playful, almost childlike, and I find joy in that.”

Moving on finally to the Ibadan-based artist, Awofeso, who identifies as non-binary, they appear committed to questioning rigid categorisation and cultural conventions through their paintings, which are typically done on oil on canvas. It makes sense that topics bordering on gender, identity, and conformity would feed their creative mills when their distinctive gender nonconforming identity are taken into consideration. It makes sense that issues bordering on gender, identity, and conformity would feed their creative mills when their distinctive gender nonconforming identity are taken into due consideration. If Awofeso declares their paintings “Sisi Clara” and “In Tune” a highlight of their artistic practice, it is because these paintings represent “a journey of inquiry into gender identity and expression, as well as the social, cultural, and political implications of non-conformity.” They further clarify: “Through personal and shared narratives, they serve as a framework for exploring the possibilities for integrity, particularly when our realities don’t align with societal expectations.”

All in all, the exhibition’s organisers, Art Bridge Project, have, in partnership with AMG Projects, effectively drawn the attention of the art audience to this unique breed of up-and-coming contemporary Nigerian artists.