How Emerem is using art to promote Nigeria

Nigerian contemporary artists, visual and music artists, have in recent times dominated rave reviews both within and outside the country.

Music artists like Wizkid, Davido, Burna Boy, Tems, and Sade Adu, have not only sold-out concerts in some biggest arenas in England and the United States of America but also won some world’s prestigious awards, like the Grammys.

Tiwa Savage, touted to be “Queen of Afro Music”, performed at the coronation of King Charles III, of England at the invitation of the royal family.

In visual arts, Mbonu Christopher Emerem is spearheading a revolution of Nigerian artists to dominate the field.

Emerem, though an Economist is regarded the world over, as one of the greatest visual artists of our time.

This is evidenced by the number of local and international awards he has won.

Emerem, who won “Best Corps Artist Award” in 1983/84 service year, has also won many other local and international awards in Arts, including “Distinguished Artist Award” in the International Exhibition of digital art, organised by Museo Municipal we Bellas Artes Juan B. Castagnino, Argentina.

He was also selected by the board of directors of the Museum of Americas, as representative of the Museum of the Americas, Doral, Florida, USA.

Emerem, who never studied arts at any art studio or institution, is using his talent to promote the image of Nigeria in the international arena.

As Andre Magnin and Jacques Soulillou, pointed out in the introduction of their landmark volume “Contemporary Art of Africa”, in “Gallery & Studios”, contemporary African artists are making a vital contribution to world culture, as evidenced by the recent exhibition of the Nigerian painter Mbonu Christopher Emerem, at Agora Gallery, 415 West Broadway, in Soho.

Although Emerem graduated from the University of Nigeria (UNN) with a degree in economics in 1983, he soon abandoned that field of study to pursue his artistic calling.

According to “Gallery &Studios”, one of Emerem’s most striking paintings in terms of how it turns the table on Picasso’s take on the firm of African tribal art is the dynamic acrylic on canvas.

“Trampled in the Dance of Destiny”, this bold composition, two sharply ebony figures obviously derived from traditional African sculpture appear to be bound back-to-back, by swirling forms that metamorphose into a swarm of smaller figures. The entire picture is filled with an energy that can be likened to the early semi-abstract works of Jackson Pollock, which were in fact greatly influenced, by Picasso’s African borrowings.

Emerem brings such influences back to their natural origins while showing his own sophisticated awareness of European modernism in his treatment of abstract form and composition. The cultural cross-fertilization provides for a fascinating dialogue, the visual equivalent of the rhythmic and melodic mergines in so-called World music.

Another major acrylic painting, by Emerem as recorded in Gallery & Studios is titled “Woman in her privacy”, which endeavoured to delineate the essence of the feminine mystique that eludes male comprehension, yet fascinates men endlessly.

Read also: Japa syndrome: Nigerians in new wave of voluntary slavery

In this regard, Emerem’s painting keeps good company with the equally formidable women of Willem de Kooming.

In other paintings, such as “Cornucopia in Nature” and “The Swamps in a Nursery”, Emerem adopted a gestural vocabulary of splashes and drips to create compositions that capture the energy of nature kinetically with layered skeins of brilliant pigment.

The Imo State-born globally celebrated visual artist in an interview with BusinessDay in Aba, the commercial hub of Abia State, charged the Nigerian youths to remain resolute and resilient, as losing hope in themselves will be tantamount to self-destruction, as the government has failed.

He urged them to look beyond their certificates and concentrate more on their skills and talents, adding that the current situation in Nigeria has completely placed the educated at more disadvantage and open to public ridicule.

Using himself as an example, the 65 years old artist, said that he has always had flay for art, but discovered that his source of livelihood lies in his talent in arts, during the compulsory National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) in 1983/1984.

Emerem lamented that Nigerian political leaders are insensitive to the plights of the citizens, stressing that what he has demonstrated with one of his Art Works during an exhibition in 1997 with the title “tears for my nation” is still manifesting.

“Honestly everything is blank. I pity our youths, but they must not be discouraged. Look at the country, no encouragement and when they become discouraged, those who can’t cope will begin to lose their minds. But they must seriously look beyond their certificates.

“Every year, millions of students graduate from school, but there’s no focus for them. No hope of a place to attach to find their fit to become responsible. Nobody knows where this country is heading to.

“Let’s critically look at the future of our youths and ask the political leaders where they’re taking us to. With all the talents and resources available, this country keeps borrowing. We all forget that a borrowing nation is a beggar nation.

Emerem reiterated his encouragement to the youths never to be discouraged and never to see crime as an alternative no matter the temptation, stressing that hence discouragement sets in, their minds will begin to deteriorate and depression will set in.