From February 13 – 28, 2021, Mydrim Gallery, an Ikoyi, Lagos-based art gallery, will be opening its doors to the public and art lovers for an enthralling exhibition this Valentine season.
Titled ‘Landscapes and Beyond’, a salon of paintings’, the exhibition, which is the first by the gallery this year, will feature works by Joseph Ayelero and Oluwafemi Otoki, two landscape painters.
The works span between 2009 – 2020; key periods for the artists since the beginning of their full-time studio practice.
However, the exhibition is going to be an exciting one because it reveals techniques, styles and ideas that highlight the tranquil nature of rural environments, as well, both artists have explored their interests in landscape painting with good fortune and have achieved commercial success.
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Also, the works are enthralling because the artists create vibrant landscapes primarily using oil, acrylic and pastel thus enabling their viewers to appreciate the beauty of their surroundings. There is a delicate and warm depiction of the colours, sights and possible feelings that capture the atmospheric elements and multifaceted beauty of the rural surroundings of the South West of Nigeria.
Moreover, both artists have used their limitless creative abilities to convey beautiful scenes through their use of striking colours, the balance of textures, light and shadows. There is further evidence of these creative expressions in their depiction of vibrant greens, blue skies, sunrise, sunsets, bodies of water and other natural elements.
Some of the paintings expected at the exhibition will explore subject matters such as identity as seen in works like “Where I Grew Up II” (2012) by Joseph Ayelero and “Ijero Ekiti – My Hometown” (2019) by Oluwafemi Otoki; the importance of nature and its elements in works like “Nature and Us” (2009) by Oluwafemi Otoki and “Through the Field” (2014) by Joseph Ayelero, “Living on Water” (2020) by Oluwafemi Otoki and “At the Riverbank” (2013).
On a further reason to see the works, the gallery noted that both artists have continued to influence our existence with their technically apt and aesthetically pleasing works. “The salon features paintings that demonstrate the continued impact of landscapes, which remain as relevant today as they were at the time of their creation”, the gallery said. “Both artists have explored the close relationship of art and landscapes over time by painting views that are entirely imaginary or documented from reality with varying degrees of accuracy.”
The exhibition opens this Saturday, February 13th from 12noon to 6 pm at Mydrim Gallery, Norman Williams Street, S.W, Ikoyi, Lagos.
