Mydrim Gallery is set to open the month of May with an enthralling exhibition by Oluwafemi Morakinyo, a painter and multidisciplinary artist.
The exhibition opens tomorrow May 1, 2022 at Mydrim Gallery, which is located in Norman Williams Street, Ikoyi, Lagos, and will last until May 8, 2022.
With the exhibition, Oluwafemi Morakinyo, who is professional called Marok, needs to put a face to his name, especially after over 10 years experience as an artist, amid many joint exhibitions and works in many.
It is also the first solo exhibition of the artist, who is a Fine Art graduate from Yaba College of Technology, Lagos.
However, on display will be 13 very exclusive works, bearing the stamp signature, a direction the artist intentionally took to highlight the need to recall our past in order to better our future.
The 13 works are all paintings of postage stamps with a generous showcase of vintage plates, trays, old Peugeot 404 saloon car, old Volkswagen beetle, grandfather’s wall clock, slate used in primary schools in the olden days, turntable for music lovers, among others.
Some of the titles include; Cool Kid on the block, Daily Bread, Sunday Service, Jelosimi, New Release, among others which tell stories that reconnect the past.
Speaking on the forthcoming exhibition during a media parley at Mydrim Gallery recently, Morakinyo, who goes professionally as Morak says, “I have been a professional artist for 10 years and have done a lot of joint exhibitions with many works in the hands of many people. But they don’t know Morak. So, I feel it is time to put a face to my name with this solo exhibition.”
Read also: In Stamps of Memory, Oluwafemi Morakinyo trails the past, reconnects heritage
Speaking on the choice of the title, Morak explains, Stamps of Memory is an intentional effort to trail and preserve the past for tomorrow.
“I believe that for you to understand your future, you must know your past. Today, we are in a fast-paced world and people are forgetting the immediate past, while olden days are gone. Children these days don’t know slate, which their parents used during their time, today they use tablets instead. It is good for children of today to know their background, so my exhibition tends to take them to where they are coming from. That is the basic idea of the show”, he says.
Moreover, he is confident that the 13 works will be sold-out at the end of the exhibition because of the uniqueness of his style.
“I am expecting a sold-out show because my style is different and unique. It is something you have not seen before. From the story being told, the style, the stamps, my works are about recalling memories and past experiences. They connect you to your background, the past and lost cultures.
“My works are things you can relate to and they can serve as a means of education to children on life in the past. It is my means of documenting the past experiences.”
However, the painter, illustrator, designer and graphic artist, who works in a leading advertising agencies in Nigeria, gives credit to his father, a clergyman, who collected the stamps and also encouraged him to study fine art, against the wish of most parents of his days, who prefer their children to be doctors, lawyers and engineers.
He also appreciates his grandmother, whose vintage collections of trays and plates offered materials and inspiration for the works.
Expressing the satisfaction of Mydrim Gallery over the quality of works by the artist and reason for partnering the artist in the exhibition, David Oluwatoyin, assistant curator, Mydrim Gallery, notes that Morak is a gifted artist with must-see works, hence the gallery is throwing its doors open from May 1-8, 2022 for Morak’s Stamps of Memory.
