Book Review
Oseloka Obaze*
A Celebration of Modern Nigerian Art
-101 Nigerian Artists
Chukwuemeka Bosah and George Edozie
(ISBN-978-0-9773398-3-9):
Ben Bosah Books,
Available at:
http://www.benbosahbooks.com
Priceless
and the most quintessential arts and paintings that comprise the extraordinary
corpus of Nigerian ancient art are sequestered in various foreign museums,
courtesy of the nation’s historical past. If those paintings depict the glut of
artistic talents in
As Nigeria
celebrates in fiftieth anniversary, Chukwuemeka Bosah and Gorge Edozie have
added fillip and vim to the anniversary celebrations with their compendium,
A Celebration of
Modern Nigerian Art -101 Nigerian Artists,
which is
scheduled to be launched at
on 11 December 2010 at The Civic Center, Lagos.
This 266-page exquisite coffee table volume,
features 101 young Nigerian artists, and presages the dynamic direction of
contemporary Nigerian arts. Getting renowned poet, Gabriel Okara to write the
forward to this volume and Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka, to be the Special Guest
at the launching, speaks to the value these men of high honors attach to the
utility of such artistic work and intellectual property.
A Celebration of
Modern Nigerian Art -101 Nigerian Artists
does not only celebrate the rich expressions, accomplishment and creative
talents presented, it celebrates the
diversity
of Nigerian modern art and artists and holds out the prospect of, in the words
of the authors, “extolling the work of positive minded Nigerians and being proud
of their work and them.”
There are not too many works of this nature cataloging
Nigerian contemporary arts, done by Nigerians, on Nigerians and for Nigerians.
Of recent memory, is Olu Oguibe’s 1995 volume,
Uzo Egonu An African Artist in the West
and Sylvester Ogbechie’s, 2008
Ben Enwonwu: The
Making of an African Modernist.
The dearth of such works reflects on ongoing
concerns and prevailing challenges, which Bosah and Edozie evidently set out to
redress.
Indeed, to
appreciate the challenges confronting present day Nigerian artists, one must
lean on the insightful observations by
Dr. Aderonke Adesola Adesanya: “Contemporary Nigerian art
converges in remarkably exquisite artistic visions and expressions. However, in
spite of the claim that contemporary Nigerian art is vibrant and rich one
observes a paradox- art so rich yet so impoverished. … Contemporary Nigerian
artists confront and have had to contend with the challenges of modernity.”
Hence,
it is in acknowledging such challenges that the value of a brilliant work
like this finds its proper niche.
It is
unsurprising, therefore, that Enid Schildkrout, Chief Curator and Director of
exhibitions and Publications Museum for African Art in New York would observe in
testament that
A Celebration of
Modern Nigerian Art -101 Nigerian Artists,
the “growing number of artists, curators, critics, and collectors in Nigeria,
sharing their varied perspectives.”
However,
the best assessment of this work comes from a renowned master of brush strokes
and most famously, the doyen of Nigerian cartoonists, Professor Dele Jegede, who
averred, “
In the annals of Nigerian art, perhaps nothing has
succeeded more in historicizing critical epochs than the simple act of
documentation. Dating back to
The Nigerian
Teacher and
Nigeria Magazine,
writing about the contemporaneity of Nigerian art has proven to be a form of
empowerment. This is what Chukwuemeka Bosah and George Edozie have valiantly
attempted in this book.”
Indeed, beyond this, nothing else needs to be said
by way of valuation of this vibrant and rich
work.
The key word here is empowerment.
Any art lover and collector must have this volume, and
from it, seek to obtain some of the originals presented therein.
The many paintings and photographs in the volume
are not stand alones.
The paintings are anchored by an accompaniment of
levelheaded and perceptive essays by Dr. E. Okechukwu Odita, Dr. Frank Ugiomah
and Numero Unoma, all of which further enrich the paintings.
As Prof. Jegede observed, “the brief essays that
foreground the visual images are, just as the artworks themselves, a good mix;
at once dated, fresh, and critical – precisely the ingredients that packs enough
power for diverse populations – from producers to consumers; from students to
scholars of contemporary Nigerian art; and from an international audience to
home-grown critics.”
Thankfully, appreciating and understanding the
paintings and photographs in the Nigerian context is made less
arduous
Dr. Odita, who lays out four distinct classifications and categorization into
which these arts variously fall, namely, environmental art, convergent art,
traditionalist art, and synthesized art. Such categorization is essentially
added value.
In perusing this volume, one appreciates the cliché
“Beauty is in eye of the beholder” even more.
I
feel inevitably pressed -- being the discerning critic that I am -- to make
subjective and preferential recommendations. Of the numerous works in this
volume, I am enamoured to Bunmi Lasaki’s “Moki ota Moki ope” and Uche Edochie’s
futuristic and high density “Inertia and Hysteria”. Similarly, Millicent
Osumua’s portrait, “Amina” and Kanayo Ede’s portrait, “Adiba” were exquisitely
feminine,
avant-garde and elegant. Chidi Chukwu’s “Ugly
Disparities” and Olusola Otori’s “Silent Majority” presented the greatest
intensity and embrace, while conveying a vivid and picturesque rendering of
introspection and everyday living in
The photographs by Emeka Obanor and Numero Unoma are
nostalgic, strikingly true-to-life and reminiscent of the great works of
ace-photographer, Dr. A. Olusegun Fayemi, especially his rendering in
“Windows to the Soul – Photographs Celebrating African
Women”
(Albofa Press,
Perusing or
possessing
A Celebration of
Modern Nigerian Art -101 Nigerian Artists
is an engaging foray and
treasure hunt into the emerging world of brilliant and gifted Nigerian artists.
The volume features a good and sensible selection
of art works that does not just illuminate creativity and skills; but serves as
a presage essay into lives of talented persons, most of whom are just beginning
their life’s journeys as artists. Bosah and Edozie and their literary and
artistic cohorts have done a magnificent job, and so, with such verve and
elegance in selecting and rendering the paintings and photographs that are the
most captivating and bringing them into the public sphere.
A Celebration of
Modern Nigerian Art -101 Nigerian Artists
highlights the quality
of work produced by Nigerian artists in
Putting together this work and its launching would not
have been possible without the support and partnership of several Nigerian
cooperate entities, namely, Total Nigeria Plc, The Guardian, Mexxon Car Hire,
Lagos Civic Centre, Transcorp Hilton, the African Foundation for Arts, Global
energy Group and Sentinel Poetry Movement. It is gratifying that these entities
are alive to their corporate responsibilities and human-interest endeavours,
well outside the realm of profit making.
Kudos to them.
------------
Mr.
Oseloka Obaze
is a founding member of the
Kwenu.com Book Review Forum,
which is dedicated to the promotion of books with Igbo
and Afrocentric themes. He is also a supporting Member of the African Writers
Endowment (AWE). From 1999 to 2005, he served on the editorial board of
INYEAKA, the journal of Songhai Charities, Inc., a
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