O’DA Art, a Lagos-based contemporary art gallery, has opened a posthumous exhibition in honour of Reuben Ugbine, a sculptor and visual artist.
Titled ‘Monuments of the soul’, the exhibition opened on February 24, 2024 and will run until March 16, 2024 at the Victoria Island, Lagos-based contemporary gallery.
On display at the exhibition are 25 works that span over two decades of Ugbine’s art career, as the exhibition further captures the evolution of his intricate wood carvings and sculpting technique from 1998 to the present day.
According to the gallery, which specializes in the works of contemporary art and design from across the African continent and its diaspora, Ugbine was a leading post-war and contemporary sculptor who lived and worked inBenin. Throughout the duration of his studio practice, Ugbine mastered the art of carving and sculpting using materials such as wood, terracotta, and metal railings.
With identity at the center of his sculptural work, he was able to explore and demonstrate the possibilities of the human body as a means to demonstrate the nature of our being.
Born in 1956 to Nigerian parents in Anponya, Ghana, Reuben Ugbine, who died in 2021, attended Auchi Polytechnic in 1976, where he received an Ordinary National Diploma and the Principal’s prize for the overall best student. He later received a HND in sculpture from Yaba College of Technology in 1979 and became an instructor and lecturer at Auchi Polytechnic, an appointment he held from 1980-1987 before retiring to a full-time studio practice.
Throughout his career, Ugbine designed and executed several carvings using ebony and iroko wood, terracotta, metal railings and other materials for crafting his sculptures. He has participated in several solo and group shows across Africa and internationally including; The 2013 Aabru Art London Group show, ‘Transcending Boundaries’, the 2018 ArtHouse Contemporary Auction Evening and the 2019 ‘Material Times’ group exhibition at Rele Gallery, Lagos. Ugbine work was also acquired by the British Museum, UK in 2018.
Ugbine was a member of society of Nigeria (SNA) and the Guild of professional fine artists of Nigeria (GFA). He is survived by his wife Perpetual, his three sons and a daughter; Ogaga, Karo, Kome and Jessica.
