An Artist and His Surreal Odyssey in Emotional Landscapes 

A first-ever solo exhibition of the works of Akanimoh Umoh, one of the local art scene’s emerging stars, should elicit aficionados’ interest as it brims with so much promise. Okechukwu Uwaezuoke writes 

No one short of an oddball afflicted with a robotic mindset would fail to discern a subtle, even painful, sense of loss beneath Akanimoh Umoh’s allusion to the “good ol’ days” of his childhood years. Talking about those years, they were, albeit relatively speaking, not too long ago, idyllic ones when he would chase after fireflies into the late evenings.

Obviously, this 2006 University of Nigeria Nsukka graduate, who turns 42 on December 13, is bristling at the devastating effects of rapid and anarchic urbanisation, which, broadly speaking, he blames, among other things, for the “gradual extinction of fireflies”. To be more explicit, he attributes the “main threats to firefly populations worldwide” to “habitat degradation and loss, light pollution, pesticide use, poor water quality, climate change, invasive species, and over-collection.”

Indeed, the word “Fireflies” does have a certain evocative quality to it. As the title of Umoh’s debut solo exhibition, it serves as a metaphor, which lifts a corner of the veil on the artist’s environmentalist concerns while also leaving room for viewers’ further conjectures.

So much about the forthcoming exhibition, which opens on Saturday, November 25 at The Art Pantheon in Oniru, Victoria Island, Lagos, and runs until Saturday, December 2, heralds those apocalyptic signs of the times that explain why so much is already in the early stages of collapse. At the same time, the dazzling falsehoods of modern-day life are seducing an increasing number of followers of the pied-piper and wonder-working beast that is technology. 

Yet, amid the increasing densification of the earth’s subtle material environment by a continually nourished mass of dark thought forms, the afflicted ones grope in vain for solutions, seeking the way out of their predicament.

Hence, in the exhibition, which will feature the artist’s most recent body of work, produced between 2019 and 2023, he explores important social issues like substandard living conditions, the yearning for validation in the digital age, as well as universal human emotions like fantasy and vulnerability. Fireflies thus take on a lyrical, metaphorical, and pictorial significance, hinting at the pursuit of hope during life’s transitory phases.

Calling Umoh’s approach unconventional would be merely stating the obvious. This is because, besides adding a conceptual mystique and fizz to the paintings, his superimposing of his models against a backdrop of hazy backgrounds and suburban settings urges the viewer to linger long enough before them. “I want my audience to engage, see, and perceive, in a number of my works, that gnawing feeling of imbalance… like a vital piece of a missing jigsaw puzzle,” he explains. “This is my humble attempt at recreating that semblance loss in plain sight, of which the analogy of the vanishing of fireflies connotes.”

Still on the unusual, his working on canvas as opposed to working on his hitherto known trademark medium watercolour  and paper works sends clear messages to his viewers. “I want [my] audiences to look closely and attune themselves to the frequencies of each work—hearing the quiet intensity, buzzing tension, and sharing in the moments of imagination.” 

So, what cryptic takeaways lurk behind these paintings? Take one of them, titled “Cat Fish,” for instance. Nothing seems out of ordinary or unusual in this painting, in which a young lady sporting a black tank top and an off-white trouser and sitting on a blue chair in what appears to be a living room seems engrossed with her smartphone. The view through the French window suggests a highly urbanised neighbourhood, while it is easy to tell from the yellow streak on the window blinds as well as on the wall and the floor that it is a sunny day. Yet, all these leave the viewer no wiser in his bid to decipher the title.

Compare the lady in the painting with the one in “Mystique”, who is clad in a skimpy blue dress and whose face is hidden behind an open red book, or with an almost similarly dressed one in “Pursuit of Happiness,” who is reclining on a sofa, probably looking down at her phone, or even with a third whose frame is inclined towards two wine goblets containing what could be cocktails. They all seemed immersed in their private moments through which the viewer – if he pays close enough attention – may get glimpses of their emotional landscapes. Besides, there is something about these moments that are reminiscent of the COVID pandemic lockdown days. 

Nonetheless, even before the pandemic’s emergence in 2019, the body of work was already being assembled. Eventually, his sources of inspiration shifted from how things were before the epidemic to how they turned out during and after the lockdown restrictions. Of course, there is also the perverse influence of social media on subjects that revolve around people’s daily lives. “It conveys my thoughts of living in a post-pandemic world and in an era where technology unconsciously seems to shape one’s sense of self,” he says.

With paintings like “The Creative Alchemist,” which suggests a revving up to higher creative frequencies; “The Matriarch of Self,” which, like the title, hints at having things under firm control; and “The Silent Vigil,” which is a veiled allusion to the Lekki toll gate shootings of protesters on October 20, 2020, in Lagos, the viewer must keep his wits about him as he tries to limit his musings to the exhibition’s title.

Much like a theme song, the title accompanies a discerning viewer as he seeks the truth, which remains always the same while its manifestations also change their forms as he evolves through self-discovery and the pursuit of freedom. He soon realises that his beliefs about the real world are threatening to turn into a phantasmagoria of mystery.

Umoh, who was weaned on creative principles that encouraged conceptual exploration and experimentation, proudly carries the torch for the Nsukka Art School while forging his own unique creative career.

Having learned a thing or two from the likes of Taiwo Adenaike, Yusuff Grillo, Onyema Ofuedu-Okeke, Felix Osieme, and Gustav Klimt, he appears to have moved past his early fascination with cubists, stylistic planes, and uli symbols to a unique visual language that melds reality and fantasy. Hence, the exhibition Fireflies invites the viewer to embark on a surreal odyssey across emotional landscapes.