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 Very Best Wishes for the New Year, with 2012 filled with great opportunities

Rare pieces of modern Nigerian art Surface In Abuja

The Thought Pyramid Gallery, Abuja, Nigeria is proud to present 

BEYOND IMAGINATION: A COMMEMORATIVE EXHIBITION OF PAINTINGS, SCULPTURES AND PRINTS BY NIGERIAN MASTER ARTISTS.

on Thursday Nov 24 at 5pm. Exhibition runs till 1st Dec, 9.00p.m. 2011 

 

West Africa flourishes with artists. The Lagos arts scene may arguably be one of the most artistically fertile spots on earth, given the sheer number of full time artist living in her environs. The West African artistic landscape has also been described as rich vibrant and often intriguing. However, very often discernable even to the common onlooker, is the towering influence of Titans of the Nigerian Artistc Terrain.  They are the Masters of Visual Arts. Their artistic backgrounds, even though roughly grouped into the formal and informal trained artists, have unleashed a tremendous amount of creativity and fervour into our artistic landscape.  All of the artists below have emerged as Nigerian Masters and by extension celebrated icons of their trade.

The first 4 constitute the Fantastic Four, of Oshogbo Art, and are also the first fruits of the illustrious Oshogbo Experimental Workshop started in the 60’s, under the tutelage and guidance of Ulli and Georgina Beier. A lot of their subject matter attests to strong beliefs, which are rooted in Yoruba culture and life.

Dancing Masquerades Bruce Onobrakpeya Metal Foil

Horns of Freedom  Low relief Metal Foil Bruce Onobrakpeya

Twins Seven Seven was a multi talented artist and performer. Even in death, he is by far the most visible artist that 20th Century Africa has produced. His works are often characterized by epic treatment of characters whether human or animal.  His human forms can often been seen with half shut or sleepy eyes, suggesting a surreal, dreamlike or trans-like state. He is a master of color and an elaborate decorator of surfaces. He is the alpha artist of the great Oshogbo school, widely celebrated even beyond the Nigerian borders. The genius of his art, is that his forms are mesmerizingly engaging and intriguing.

Jimoh Buraimoh comes from a traditional family in Oshogbo, long associated with the majestic art of crown making with beads. His innovative transfer of this traditional art form of crown making with beads, to bead making and painting on flat surfaces, places him with other great innovators like Onobrakpeya and Emokpai as having contributed to new techniques, vistas and methods of experiencing the visual arts. Jimoh Buraimoh is widely traveled and considered by many as one of  the finest folkloric artist in our shores.

Muraino Oyelami, is a visual poet who hails from Iragbiji near Oshogbo. His works have a cool blend of purple, yellow, blue and green colours, they are often juxtaposed, in his landscapes or other themes to form art that is often enchanting to behold. His art reflects and parallels the enduring appeal of Oshogbo art and culture. Muraino’s art like other great Oshogbo artists, suggests to the viewer, that as an artist, he straddles in his art to that magical  wonder world and place, where people, animal and places all converge and sometimes become one. He has exhibited widely outside Nigeria including Ghana and Germany.

The fourth in the quartet is Rufus Ogundele (1946-1996) who was born in Oshogbo. He was also a versatile performer and artist. In 1963 he participated in Denis Williams' workshop. Ogundele combined the European artistic techniques like printmaking which he developed especially under Beier's tutelage with the teachings of traditional Yoruba culture. In 1983 he was artist-in-residence at the Iwalewa-Haus in Bayreuth, Germany. He trained other artists at his studios.

Bisi Fakeye hails from Ila-Orangun, and was born into the Yoruba family of carvers of Inurin compound in South West Nigeria.  He belongs to the sixth generation of Fakeye family of carvers. In 1960, at age seventeen, Bisi Fakeye moved from Ila-Orangun to Ondo where he was attached as an apprentice for a total of seven years to his uncle, Lamidi Fakeye, in between which he trained as a teacher for one year.
Bisi Fakeye found Lagos a home and like Emokpai, he mixed and shared ideas with a new breed of contemporary artists, particularly those trained in formal art schools like Yusuf Grillo, and Ben Osawe.
He has also  participated alongside Onobrakpeya at the very prestigious Commonwealth Heads of State and Government Meeting (CHOGM) Exhibition, Abuja (2003). His work is highly regarded both within and outside Nigeria.

 Ben Enwonwu.  originally from Onitsha, is considered the father of modern art in Nigeria. He was formally trained at the Goldsmith and Slade Academy in he U.K. His greatest pieces show man in his finest form, elevated to the realms of gods. There are several examples of this, the best known being Shango and Anyanwu, which are sculptural pieces, but he is also well known as the painter of the famous Tutu.

Ben Osawe was also formally trained in the west, and was also the son of a Benin carver, his passion for wood for carving and bronze casting demonstrate his love for these media. Osawe loved and marvelled at the anatomy of the female form. His art must rightfully be considered as a modern day continuum of great Benin art, a position he shares with  his other  Edo/Urhobo countrymen Emokpai and Onobrakpeya.   Bruce Onobrakpeya who turns 80 next year, has shared his art and ideas through the Annual Harmattan Workshop now in the 14^th Edition.   He has been described as amongst one of the most influential teachers of Nigerian artists.

As Ben Enwonwu was was an early teacher to Bruce Onobrakpeya, so too was Bruce Onbobrakpeya to David Dale. Dale is today, one of Nigeria’s most versatile artists in terms of technique usage. He is very widely traveled in Nigeria, on the merit of his ethnicity, training and professional life. All of these experiences, he leverages into the themes of his works. At heart Dale is a designer, with a passion for elaborate designs and ethnic motifs and patterns.

Erhabor Emokpai is an artist who is known for propounding the idea of dualism in his art. This idea which is similar to to the Yin Yan theory of the Chinese, has as it's main thrust that everything in nature, has a compliment. He is also considered a kindred Rebel by the art historian Kojo Fosu, because of his close association to very many of the artists of the Zaria School, of which Onobrakpeya was one. The astonishing number of works created by Emokpai, and varied techniques in which he executed them, in his relatively short lifetime, places him as an important post independence artist in Nigeria.

The final artist of note in this exhibition is Okpu Eze, he seems to have had a short spell working in Enugu as a carver of large sculptural pieces. A few of his pieces are very contemplative pieces and his works may also have been inspired by important Benin artists of his day Like Idubor.

What seems clear is that the cultural ferment of Lagos as an important art centre, destination and clearing house in West Africa, served as a catalyst and magnet for several of these masters to bloom to fruition.

Ultimately all of these artists should not be merely seen as just masters of the visual art trade, but in many ways must be viewed as cultural icons and institutions worthy of our highest accolades as a society, because their works celebrate great moments in our collective experience as a people.

Sugar Cane Truck Pushers Serigraphy Bruce Onobrakpeya 2011

As a collective the works of these masters though varied, in influence, techniques and place of execution, all speak of the inalienability and the eternal permanence of a Nigerian artistic experience, perspective and contribution to the global art of the world today.

In conclusion, may I also state that all great artworks, some of which are present in this exhibit, should carry our highest accolades. Today’s masterpieces like the great arts of our traditional society, are visual condensations of  important  thoughts, philosophy and belief systems of our people. They carry with them the seeds for celebrating our highest moments and achievements as a people.

The works of all of the aforementioned masters represent some of the modern artistic achievements of our people in nearly 5,000 years of Nigerian art. I can safely commend them to you.

We are thankful to the thought pyramid Gallery for showcasing the Visual feast. BEYOND IMAGINATION AN EXHIBITION BY NIGERIAN MASTER ARTISTS.

Mudiare Onobrakpeya

1^st November, 2011

Lagos.

Onobrakpeya visits historic City of Onitsha

His Majesty Igwe Achebe with Royal fathers and Prof. Bruce Onobrakpeya

His Majesty Igwe Alfred Achebe CFR, mni  with Prof. Bruce Onobrakpeya MFR at a special reception for guests during Igwe Achebe's 10th Ofala Celebration.

This month Prof. Bruce Onobrakpeya visited the historic city of Onitsha on the invitation of his Majesty Igwe Nnaemeka Alfred Ugochukwu Achebe, CFR, mni to witness Igwe Achebe's tenth Ofala,  in Onitsha. The Ofala  festivity goes back to the beginnings of Onitsha in the 16th century. Every Obi of Onitsha celebrates a yearly Ofala, which in the days gone by, was his annual emergence, when most of his subjects had an opportunity to behold him.

The Ofala festival is remarkable in the sense that it also celebrates the beginning of the Onitsha New Year and New Yam season. The festival  brings  most of the indigenes of Onitsha from far and wide, as well as friends and well wishers to witness festivities connected to the Igwe's celebrations of his yearly Ofala.

The festival is often very colorful and  characterized by the paying of tributes, salutations and making of gift presentations to the Obi of Onitsha.  Senior ranking members of the community, who include chiefs and elders, can be seen wearing their head gears which are colourful and often made of ostrich feathers. The dance and ceremony is often accompanied by royal drums called Egwuota. There is also a spectacular parade and outing  of different age grades who pay homage to the Igwe Achebe who is also known as Agbogidi.

Chiefs and elders, can be seen wearing their head gears which are colourful and often made of ostrich feathers.

 Onitsha is  a beautiful and picturesque city  by the famous River Niger and is home to an active community of visual artists like Ato Arinze, George Edozien, George Nwazugbo and Oliver Enwonwu who have all contributed in  no small measure to the vibrancy that contemporary Nigeria art enjoys.

But by far the most popular artist to have come from this great City is the legendary and iconic Ben Enwonwu, who had mentored Bruce Onobrakpeya many years before, and represents the greatest visual artist of the 20^th Century from Nigeria.

While in Onitsha Prof. Bruce Onobrakpeya paid a courtesy call with a few members and artists of the Harmattan Workshop Series to the Obi of Onitsha.

His Majesty is a passionate and dedicated collector of African art, and is in part responsible and share the credit for a new wave of revival and renaissance  in the appreciation  of wood carvings  in Onitsha, a traditional artform in Onitsha which was almost lost and extinct due to waning appreciation. His beautiful home which is located in one the scenic valleys of Onitsha, is also home to  his tremendous collection of Nigerian masterpieces, which are a joy to behold. His collection include a modest but  surprising number of Nigerian masterpieces which have been painstakingly acquired from all over the country in the last 20 years.
One of this pieces is a meduim sized painting called Agbogidi by Onobrakpeya, and was done in honour of Obi Achebe who is also a long time patron of Onobrakpeya 's works.
Onobrakpeya's visit to Onitsha was remarkable and nostalgic, because it is the first time in 70 years, since he visited Onitsha with his then guardian the late Mr Onakufe who taught as a teacher in a primary school there. He also vividly remembers on his last visit to Onitsha, seeing a group of hunters on their way back from a hunting expedition, wearing their full hunting gear and  colourful regalia. This certainly made an impression on young Bruce's mind.
At the courtesy visit and reception which followed at the Obi of Onitsha's  home. Onobrakpeya thanked   Igwe Achebe for the  hospitality  extended to him and several artists during the visit, the continued support of the arts and the fatherly role  Igwe Achebe had played in nurturing Nigerian art. Onobrakpeya prayed that God should give the progressive Igwe the wisdom to continue to be a pace setter in Cultural and environmental concerns.

Wanda Ibru Gives scholarships for the Arts

Community leader : Chief Wanda Ibru recently in Lagos

The 2012 fundraiser  for the Bruce Onobrakpeya Foundation (BOF) was kicked off this year in the month of July by Prof. Bruce Onobrakpeya MFR, who appealed to the Civic community in Nigeria, for continued support of the Annual Harmattan Workshop Series.

 Chief Wanda Ibru, a community leader based in Lagos and Agbarha- Otor, Delta State of Nigeria responded to this appeal by supporting and giving scholarships to 25 indigent community women who will be beneficiaries of the 2012 Annual Harmattan Workshop, and who other wise, will not have  been able to attend the workshop.

 The support for  the rural women, in her response was calculated at developing the skill set of community women in Agbarha-Otor, so that they  can develop modern skills like jewelry and bead making in order to empower them selves financially and improve their personal situations.

Olorogun Wanda Ibru has been a long time supporter  of the Annual Harmattan Workshop Series  (HWS), which by 2012 will be in it’s 14^th edition. This 2012 support  coincides with the 80^th Anniversary celebration  of the founder of the workshop, Prof. Bruce Onobrakpeya.

The HWS is an initiative of BOF, and has steadily grown over the years to attract trained and untrained participants, who share experiences  in a conducive learning  environment.

Generally the participants for the HWS come from all over Nigeria and beyond to the Niger Delta Cultural Center located in Agbarha- Otor, near Ughelli in Delta State of Nigeria.

Niger Delta Arts and Culture Centre

Niger Delta Arts and Culture Centre at Agbarha Otor : Home of the Annual Harmattan Workshop Series

The  building  is a large one, about 30meters x 30 meters, on 3 floors which rises above the top of the surrounding oil palm trees. It was designed by the master builder and architect Demas Nwoko, a long time friend of Bruce Onobrakpeya.
Contained inside are several galleries and workshop spaces which form  a backdrop to the artistic activities both inside and outside.
The building is a rare jewel to behold and has had visitors, visit from the West Coast of Africa as far as Ghana.

Eghwere: Reflecting on Man the Hunter

Eghwere by Bruce Onobrakpeya 2010, Mixed Media and installation 1.6m X 3m Picture taken courtesy of Dele Jegede

Eghwere is the Urhobo muse for successful hunting. It is used by Bruce Onobrakpeya as a metaphor for reflecting on man’s quest and struggle for survival. His efforts in different fields of endeavor is likened to those of  hunters equipped with bows, arrows, cutlasses and guns with which they hunt down game for food and his other requirements.

Similarly the pen, compass, camera, computer, microscope etc  though modern implements, also become tools in man's hands for achieving set goals that will help him to survive and improve his life.

Adapting the traditional shrine composition, the above concept have led to the creation of installations which show man as an achiever and crowned for his efforts with success. He is seen dressed, as a masquerade that has been embellished with many trophies, and is located in an imaginary forest dotted with standing pillars that double as  trees and animals

Like the traditional shrine, these installation changes with time . Some of the objects within  one background may be renewed with fresh colours or even replaced . Whereas the traditional shrine tends to remain fixed in one setting, the new experiments by Bruce are nomadic  in the sense that they may often be moved from one exhibition site  to the other, and for sheer compositional excitement,  the objects in different installations are nearly always interchangeable to form other groups.

Birthday of the month of August

Bruce Onobrakpeya: Artist, Innovator, and Teacher of many generations of Artists.

Bruce Onobrakpeya was born on August 30^th 1932, in Agbarha-Otor in what is today known as the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. He is reputed to be Africa's greatest printmaker and one of the finest in the world.

Bruce Onobrakpeya would have very few rivals in innovative and experimentalist print making in our time. Not only is he a great draughtsman, master printmaker - in the professional sense of the word, he is also noted for his paintings and mixed media installation art.  Since 1966, he has discovered, innovated and perfected several techniques both in printmaking and relief sculpture. In addition to his experiments in mixed media and his reputation as a book illustrator, art teacher, author and folklorist, he is also one of the pioneers of modem Nigerian art and a leading member of the Zaria Art Society (renamed by the Emir of Zaria, to The Zaria Art Ambassadors). This important and now famous Zaria group, has been credited with laying the theoretical foundations for contemporary Nigerian art, in the late 1950s.  According to the critic Olu Oguibe  in 1991 “Onobrakpeya has not only proved himself an artist of unassailable worth, he has also strode the expanses of internationalism, exhibiting and executing commissions all over Africa, Europe and America and several parts of the World”

Onobrakpeya is a gifted teacher and mentor of several generations of successful artists. In 1999, for instance, he initiated The Harmattan Workshop Series, with a vision to empower artists. This annual retreat and gathering for artists now in its 13^th edition, has become a new Mecca for visual artists. It is the longest running non-formal education for visual artists in West Africa. The workshop has been described as lofty, noble and life transforming because it brings in artists from all over the world to share their experiences in an atmosphere of brotherhood and camaraderie. This is perhaps his greatest legacy and contribution to the contemporary arts of Africa.

Bruce Onobrakpeya is not without honour, he was jointly designated by UNESCO and the Federal government of the Republic of Nigeria with the honour of “LIVING HUMAN TREASURE” a befitting tribute to a man whose whole life has been ruled by one passion: The Celebration of the arts of our motherland, and by extension our humanity as a people.