In Anticipation of Excellence 

With a respectable line-up of renowned artists for its inaugural exhibition, the Lekki, Lagos-based Iwalewa Gallery of Art seems poised to honour the industry’s best. Okechukwu Uwaezuoke reports 

Few people—quite a negligible few, for that matter—seem to have gotten the memo. And that is to the effect that the local art industry, which is occasionally denounced for its frivolity and lack of a clear-cut direction—even despite its spectacular achievements—is in desperate need of a reinvention. 

As the Iwalewa Gallery of Art formally opens its doors to the local art community on September 29 in the charming, affluent Lagos district of Lekki Phase I, therefore, enthusiasts should keep an eye out for this reinvention.

Complementing this opening is a group exhibition titled Beyond the Eye. According to the gallery’s statement, the exhibition will officially open at 4 p.m. and will feature works from a coterie of Nigeria’s leading artists alongside those of one Lagos-based Cameroonian female artist.

Talking about the artists, they seem to have been deliberately chosen to represent the industry’s leading contemporary art mediums. Sam Ovraiti, Segun Adejumo, Edosa Oguigo, and Duke Asidere, all members of the Guild of Fine Artists, are among the most proficient painters in the Nigerian art scene. Then there is the duo of Ato Arinze and the Cameroonian female artist Nathalie Kassi Djakou, who have taken ceramic sculpture to sublime levels. Fidelis Odogwu and David Abdul Jabba have stayed the course on the less-trodden path of metal sculpture. As the only photographer among the lot, Don Barber’s name recognition can almost be taken for granted since his accomplishments in the medium have become legendary. Finally, the presence of the iconic Bruce Onobrakpeya, who turned 91 on August 30, as the exhibition’s trump card, ups the ante. 

Still, among the artists, there is hardly anyone among them who should not be deemed accomplished in his or her field. Starting with Ato Arinze, he has, since the completion of his formal training at the Federal Polytechnic, Oko, in Anambra State, and the Yaba College of Technology, Lagos, evolved into unarguably the most proficient ceramic sculptor in the Lagos art scene. Practising as a full-time studio artist since 1991, the 54-year-old, who was born in Mushin, has remained one of the few consistent artists practising in the medium.

As his complement, the Cameroonian-born Nathalie Kassi Djakou has, since 2015, when she ventured into the Nigerian art scene, asserted herself well enough to be invited to participate in high-profile group exhibitions. Practising with ceramics since 1998, after completing her university education, her career’s trajectory has seen her teach ceramics at Cameroon’s Institut de Formation Artistique, manage the Centre d’Art Appliqué in the Cameroonian town of Mbalmayo, and eventually appointed the vice president of the local craft association in 2011 by her local government. Her works have since been exhibited at such international platforms as the 9th China Changchun International Ceramic Symposium and the Say My Name exhibition in London, as well as the Deus Ex Femina exhibition in Dubai and the Art & Exception exhibition in Paris.

Then, the Federal Polytechnic Auchi School of Arts and Design graduate, David Abdul Jabba, is a known devotee of creative excellence, whose true passion, according to the gallery, “lies in transforming mechanical components into extraordinary metal sculptures, each a testament to his mastery over the medium.”

His co-alumnus, Fidelis Odogwu, remains one of the most consistent and proficient sculptors in the Lagos art scene, having, besides holding two solo exhibitions, featured in several group exhibitions both within and outside Nigeria. The award-winning artist is a member of the Society of Nigerian Artists (SNA), the Guild of Professional Fine Artists of Nigeria (GFA), and the African Artists Foundation.

Meanwhile, the distinctive styles of the four members of the painting quartet—Sam Ovraiti, Duke Asidere, Edosa Ogiugo, and Segun Adejumo—make them easily recognisable as the leading lights of the obviously preferred medium of the local art scene.

As for the photography legend Don Barber, who has mentored many photography greats, including Kelechi Amadi-Obi and Uche James-Iroha, he has remained a by-word for creative excellence. His formal training at Kingsway College Farringdon in London, now Westminster Kingsway College London, where he specialised in photography and film production, has since been burnished by his many years of practice. “His belief in photography as a thought process shines through in his work,” according to a write-up in the exhibition catalogue. “He sees the camera as a conduit for translating intricate creative visions originating from the mind into tangible visual arts.”

Moving on to the patriarch of the contemporary Nigerian art scene, Bruce Onobrakpeya, it is interesting that this would be his first outing after his 91st birthday on August 30. The fact that his works would be featured in the gallery’s debut exhibition sends a clear signal of what it has on the cards.

Closing up on the gallery’s founder, Femi Williams, himself a graduate of painting, he has had a lustrous history of art dealership, which not only accounts for his insights into the art market but also explains his acquaintance with emerging artists.

This fact, therefore, should reassure the art community that the gallery will cater to the interests of artists from across all generations, even when it will not readily hop onto the next trending bandwagon.