This year, the Lagos art season has been more exciting and engaging for ardent followers of the arts, especially visual art, with many shows and exhibitions across the metropolis.
However, there is still one more show, an enthralling and probably, the most anticipated art exhibition of the year.
Yes, ‘Mirrors of Our Time’ is open to delight the art community, art lovers and collectors with some of the breathtaking works by gifted artists.
There are many reasons to see the group exhibition, which runs from November 16-30, 2024 at Alexis Galleries in Victoria Island, Lagos.
Tagged ‘Mirrors of Our Time’, the exhibition features nine interdisciplinary contemporary artists, whose experimental spirit, boldness and humongous size of works intrigue.
Of course, the sheer creativity that adorns the craft of these very young artists, makes one really question how long it takes to become a master artist, as their works speak more than their age.
From Arinze Stanley, Jacqueline Suowari, Ayogu Kingsley, Okolo Oliver, David Kaydee, Otaru Oscar Ukonu, Chukwuebuka Chukwuemeka, Olawale Moses and Celesta Jonah, these young talents show passion that intrigues, as evident in their creative ingenuity on already on display at Alexis Galleries.
The techniques they deplore in rendering their respective works on display at the exhibition is also something to admire.
From figurative rendered paintings, through hyperrealism and inventive use of charcoal, ballpoint technique and mixed media collage, among other styles, ‘Mirrors of Our Time’ is worth seeing.
Speaking in her gallery statement at the media parley heralding the exhibition, Patty Chidiac Mastrogiannis, founder, Alexis Gallery, expressed excitement at working with the nine young artists in the exhibition, which she described as ‘a refreshing group show featuring recent works by the young talents.
Further describing them as leading interdisciplinary artists, she noted that the exhibition is worth seeing because of the ability of the artists to work with diverse approaches, different media and style in painting, including hyperrealism, ballpen, mixed media collage, and chiaroscuro.
With the variety of media, approaches and styles, Patty insisted that ‘Mirror of Our Time’ is the exhibition to beat in the ongoing Lagos art season.
“Through their reflective yet breathtaking works, these artists examine and reflect upon our multifaceted, collective lived reality, exploring the sociological threads and frameworks—sometimes strictures that bind us, often rubbing off and shaking the very core of our human experience,” Patty noted.
Also, in his curatorial statement, Uche Obasi, curator of the exhibition, explained that ‘Mirrors of Our Time’ exhibition reveals a world and time permeated by external realities; grappling from diffusion of new media, consumer recesses, to unchecked wants and desires.
“Mirrors of Our Time is a visual narrative and reflection that captures a myriad of evocative yet intimate issues on our shared collective identity and reality. It explores the unspoken burden, the unchecked demands, and the pressures lying present in our world,” Obasi noted.
Speaking further, he noted that the exhibition seeks to unveil the threads that connect people as well as inviting viewers to reexamine the cultural strictures that confront their personal lives and the world around them.
Taking a look at the artists and their works, starting with Arinze Stanley, “Under the Influence”, one of his four works at the exhibition, is a hyperrealistic painting depicting a distressed face grasped by mysteriously intruding hands, with flames above the figure’s head.
The thought-provoking artwork symbolizes the overwhelming pressures exerted by media, society, and digital validation, which shape and distort individual perception of reality and collective existence.
While Arinze’s work invites viewers to question the filters shaping our lives, revealing the hidden truths obscured by societal expectations, Oscar Ukonu’s ballpoint pen techniques are intriguing.
Oscar combines intricate use of a ballpoint pen to explore the dynamic interplay between identity and media representation. His works, “Face Value”, engage the human face as a central motif, examining how identity is both revealed and obscured in a society where perception is shaped by the media.
Through the use of negative imagery in his paintings, David Kaydee Otaru depicts translucent colors of ghostly figures in domestic settings. These figures, caught in random moments, are eerily recognizable. Through his work, Otaru examines the evolving relationship between art and technology in a rapidly driven contemporary society.
For Adesiyan Olawale Moses, the use of charcoal and graphite allows him to make intricate softly rendered textures and details, mirroring how cultural tradition and modernity coexist in today’s world.
One of Adesiyan’s deeply personal works, “Omidan,” represents the strength, grace, and quiet resilience of young women in Yoruba culture. Omidan explores tribute to cultural identity, seen through the eyes of a maiden who embodies both history and the future.
Celesta Jonah confronts the vulnerability crisis within society’s expectations of masculinity. With “Boys Don’t Cry,” she delves into the emotional suppression that boys and men face, both in their personal lives and in broader public spaces.
“Violet Dreams in a Golden Shell” is an oil and charcoal painting by Oliver Okolo. It captures the resolute gaze of a woman at a personal crossroads. Unfazed by the weight of history and identity, her calm posture embodies the triumph of the human spirit. This powerful artwork conveys the duality of quiet resolve and emotional depth.
Chukwuebuka Chukwuemeka’s works explore staining monochromatic earthy colors on paper, combining charcoal, pastel, and coffee. By adopting chiaroscuro techniques, he achieves a striking photo-like appearance.
Chukwuebuka’s art focuses on revealing and recapturing the essence of time and culture, shedding light on identity, representation, and personal experience.
For Jacqueline Suowari’s work, each idea is a reinvention and manifestation of intricate ballpoint pen strokes on paper; a signature technique that dominates her artistic expression. Through this unique method, Souwari explores profound moral notions shaped by shared human experiences, body language, cultural influences, identity, and our collective perspective on mental health. Jacqueline Suowari’s work “Sunset in Banana Island” portrays a powerful vision of contemporary African womanhood, merging elegance with cultural identity.
Kingsley Ayogu’s mixed media collages draw inspiration from the rich archive and realities of modern African lives. Ayogu seamlessly blends materiality, utility, and meaning by incorporating unconventional materials like sponge and net. The result of this innovative approach is a striking translucency, as colors blend and foreground and background intersect.
In their individual remarks at the media parley, Arinze noted that the title of the exhibition helped him to mirror the resilience Nigerians, especially youth in the face of the realities in the country, noting further that “we live in curated reality in Nigeria”, as captured by his work tilted ‘Fruit of Labour’.
On her part, Souwari, one of the two female artists in the group exhibition, explores the connection between the western world and Nigeria, with her two works, as well as focus on human hair.
Jonah, the second female in the exhibition, through her five works, delves into some areas many hardly go. With her work ‘Boys Don’t Cry’ she reveals the inner feelings of men, who suppress their emotions, hold back tears and refuse to ask for help in order not to be called weaklings by family or the society.
Others are passing great messages and telling good tales with their works as well.
They all invite you to visit to see and enjoy the interdisciplinary narrative and showcase of Mirrors of Our Time.
Once again, the exhibition holds from November 16-30, 2024 at Alexis Galleries in Victoria Island, Lagos. Part of the proceeds will be going to Loving Gaze, a charity home in Lagos.
Meanwhile, the exhibition is supported by The Macallan, Coca Cola, Mikano, Art Cafe, Bombay Sapphire, The Guardian, Tiger, UPS, Aina Blankson Global, Haier Thermocool, Nigeria Info, Cobranet, Berol and Schweppes.
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