… Hold group exhibition this November
A group of eleven artists under the aegis of the ICON Master, who have caught their teeth in the art business, at the famous Universal Studios of Arts in Lagos, are rising to preserve the heritage of masters in the visual art industry.
The members of the group include: Abiodun Olaku, painter, Bunmi Babatunde, sculptor, Adewunyi Kenny, sculptor, Odogwu Eze Fidelis, sculptor, Akporode Collins Abinoro, sculptor, and Steve Ekpensi, sculptor.
Others are: Duke Asidere, painter, Edosa Oguigo, painter, Tayo Quaye, painter, Alex Nwokolo, painter and Djakou Kasai Nathalie, sculptor- the only female in the group.
They are seasoned artists with a depth of knowledge of arts carefully selected to galvanise ideas in the community of artists.
Their experiences in the industry span over 3-4 decades, with some younger generation artists in the group equally making their marks in the industry.
At a press briefing held at the Universal Studios of Arts in Lagos ahead of the planned seven-day group exhibition starting from November 9-16, 2024 at the National Museum, Lagos, the art icons told newsmen that they intend to foster healthy collaborations between the older and younger generations of artists, with a bigger aim of fixing the disconnect between the duo.
The exhibition is not thematic but a call for responsibility by the stakeholders in arts towards the younger artists. The Icon Masters think that there is a need to address the growing disparity between older and younger generations of artists.
At the briefing, Abiodun Olaku from the Universal Studios of Arts, explained that the vision of icons masters is to bring contemporary artists to practice the trade based on established process through mastership.
However, the Universal Studios of Arts has taken up the responsibility to teach students on industrial training programmes about the rudiments and history of arts in Nigeria to fill the gap of experience among many of the contemporary artists.
The studio offers training services to non-graduate artists, industrial training arts and art graduate trainees, who cut across various academic disciplines, all to reshape the industry for purposeful results.
For Adewumi Kenny, sculptor, emphasis should be laid on practical arts and not necessarily the paper certificate of arts. The Icon masters believe in results that separate the real artists from the chaff.
“We give emphasis on practical arts and not necessarily degrees. We focus on practical arts to justify the paper certificates. We ensure that certificate values are in tandem with practical arts,” Kenny said.
Kenny recalled that growing up in the industry, young artists would relate with the pioneers to learn, and the masters in turn impacted positively on the younger ones.
Odogwu Eze Fidelis, a metal sculptor, stressed that the idea of the icons was to save the art industry’s pioneer effort from the brink of extinction with the masters writing the narratives of how the industry began.
“We, as old hands in the art industry, have discovered that the values that inspired us when we were young through the efforts of the pioneers of arts in Nigeria are waning. The contemporary energy is almost gone with the younger ones. Things that inspired us as young artists through the efforts of the pioneers are missing and we think it is an incomplete metamorphosis,” Olaku lamented.
The icons emphasized that the emerging artists needed to pass through mentorship by the old hands. The mentors have created the process that led to the next generation of artists in their time, hence the imperative to recognize and celebrate the oldies.
Bunmi Babatunde, sculptor, thinks that the younger artists to a point are not paying attention to the legacies of the masters due to their ignorance, which was in contrast in their days.
“When we were in school, we learned and read about Nigerian artists and had always looked forward to meeting them. When we saw them and their works we looked with inspiration and administration. We were enamoured by the influence of those artists because we wanted to be like them.
Babatunde attributed the disconnect between the older and younger generations of artists to the lack of historical studies in the tertiary institutions where art is taught. He blamed the art handlers (lecturers) for failing to teach art students about experts in the industry.
“The idea of the icons came at the right time, especially, when we realized we needed to blow out our own trumpets ourselves.”
Fidelis accused some art promoters and galleries of greed as they wield influence and dictate for the younger artists how to do it for their selfish financial gains.
“The business interests of some promoters and galleries come first and so they forget who laid the foundation for the arts (masters) industry in the country. They used these elements for the younger artists against the icons.”
He believes that with the icon’s movement, the imbalance in the system would be corrected, insisting that “Art promoters and galleries are supposed to recognize and celebrate the icons but unfortunately they don’t.”
The Icons want to be recognised and celebrated like Nollywood’s icons such as Pete Edochie, Olu Jacob, Joke Silver, among others.
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