Tony Nsofor and the Burden of Identity Crisis

Yinka Olatunbosun

Anthony Nsofor’s reputation as a dedicated studio artist travelled ahead of him and his works recently when a handful of journalists arrived at the O’DA Art Gallery, Victoria Island, Lagos, to have a glimpse of his new works. Titled Citizens of Nowhere, the new show, curated by Sunshine Alaibe, is the culmination of several moments of introspection by the artist, whose career path has burrowed through different continents and cultures.

Over the years, Nsofor’s practice has taken him from Lagos (Nigeria) to Abidjan (Cote d’Ivoire) and the USA. With this lengthy experience, his themes are perceived through a global lens while carefully articulating his thoughts using elements of Uli, Nsibidi, and Adinkra traditions.

Since 2017, he started working on the project about identity and cultural dislocation, tapping into personal experiences and point of view of others.

In her introductory speech, the curator revealed that Nsofor’s conscious engagement with others had served as an eye-opener on the subject matter of migration and identity in this show, which opened on September 23.

“He started the series as a reflection of that from his own personal experience but he also felt like he needed to document other people as well, differently,’’ she explained. “All through his 20-year career, he has been painting as a reflection of his study. He went to the Nsukka school and he has been using the Ulli influence from Uche Okeke. If you look at his works, you will see all shapes and his deliberate ways of drawing faces. It is abstract expressionism.’’

She further revealed that the artist projects his shared experience of feeling alienated through the body of works.

“It is being kind of ironic that in being together, you are meant to be isolated but then you are all sharing the experience of being alienated in one space.”

Nsofor’s piece titled “Some Came By Sea, Others By Land,” is a grim composition comprising faces of people being rescued at sea. This provocative work confronts the issue of migration and the reality of living in the shadows of someone else’s experience.

Nsofor, who joined the conversation virtually spoke of the frustration that came with leaving one’s home country in search of a better life and the complexity of identity crisis in the new country of residence. For him, the nostalgia for the homeland never leaves.

The solo exhibition, which parades no fewer than 25 works, captures the last two years of that experience, arranged and presented in series. Nsofor, who is in the first year of his two-year residency programme at the Torpedo Factory Art Center, in Alexandria, Virginia, US, described the body of works as “biographical.”

“Travelling meant me becoming someone else,” he said. “I started questioning the things that make one Nigerian and you find out that certain things mean things that may tie you down to an identity. I realise also that with the internet, we can have a personality that spreads across borders- physical borders, boundaries and geographical location and all of that no longer restrain as it did some twenty years ago. So it becomes possible that I can be very present in Nigeria and at the same time, very present in the US or China at the same and have such information and interaction with different continents. There is an opportunity to be more.”

Although his roots in the Nsukka art school influence his techniques, his skills may not be as traditional as the Uli motifs are. His calligraphic forms sometimes include Arabic texts that suggest a language or culture. The use of lines remains an essential feature in his works that speak to his reality.

The show runs until October 21.