If you have never encountered Yusuf Durodola and his incredible art, there is an ample opportunity to do that.
Durodola, a multimedia visual artist and one of the sought-after contemporary artists from Nigeria, is set to engage the public with his breathtaking works.
On November 14, 2024, ÌRÀPADÀ: Re-Interpretation of Discarded Materials, will open at Nike Art Gallery Abuja.
The exhibition, which is one of the anticipated shows in the visual art circle in Nigeria, due to the artist involved, is a solo outing by Durodola.
It will feature 16 solid works, all made from recycled materials as well as a performance and showcase of video of his past performances. There is also going to be an installation, stemming from the performance.
Speaking at media parley heralding the exhibition, the multimedia artist explained that the exhibition is worth seeing because of the sheer creativity of the works on display and the visual performance, a 3D work in motion that is instill with actions and engage the audience.
The exhibition, according to him, captures the symbiotic relationship between man and his immediate environment, while projecting the power of mindset and possible transformation in recycling/upcycling wastes in harnessing environmental sustainability.
Decrying the huge disregard for the environment, Durodola noted that the exhibition is an advocacy for a better environment.
“I am drawing attention to our disregard for our environment through our actions and inactions. We are the ones who littered our space and the space is going to give it back to us,” he noted.
Explaining further with ‘Garbage in Garbage Out’, one of the works for the exhibition, he said that it implies that what we throw out there is what we are going to get back.
“Every image in this work represents our space. So, this our space looking back to us, this is what you have given me, I am giving it back to you,” he noted.
However, the techniques he used in creating the works are breathtakingly innovative.
Most of the works are better seen and understood when captured on phone or looked from a distance.
“If you look at the image you will not see anything. Again, it reminds us that we don’t see or feel what we do until the consequences turn back to us like the impact of climate change today,” he explained.
Explaining the rationale for using recycled materials and supposedly waste for his work, the master artist noted that apart from serving as materials for creating art, recycling waste helps to clean the environment and safeguard us from the impact of climate change.
For those who still don’t see reasons to donate or even sell their waste to visual artists or recyclers, Durodola clears the air on waste.
“Waste becomes waste when we don’t know what to do with it. Any object that you don’t know what it would be used for is a thrash and a waste even cloth you don’t wear again. It is not trash until you trash it, it is not waste until you waste it,” he explained.
He also differs on the Lagos State government’s plan to ban plastic bottles, cellophane bags and styrofoam packs, arguing that the government should rather change the mindset of the people to stop them from littering the space with these unsustainable environmental trashes.
“I learnt that Lagos State wants to ban plastic bottles, cellophane bags and styrofoam packs. I want to do a performance to counter that because it is not the action, but the mind. If we don’t change our minds, people will still be blocking gutters and littering the environment with trash. If you ban plastic, what about biscuits and sweet wrappings, they also block the gutters.
“When people know what to use these junks for, they will key into it. Someone has given me junks, plastics, CDs and others after seeing my works on recycled materials here. They brought some here for me. That consciousness is what we need and not the ban,” he noted.
Speaking on why the exhibition is being held at Nike Art Gallery Abuja, she said that it is because Mama Nike is the first person to see the vision in what he is doing.
“Mama Nike loves my series on recycled materials here in the Lagos gallery, but wanted the same in Abuja to help her create more awareness on environmental sustainability.
“So, I decided to do another series on recycled materials and a solo at Nike Art Gallery in Abuja. After this Abuja exhibition, if she likes the works, she can buy them too to keep in the gallery there like here in Lagos. It will be her collection afterwards.
“When I did a solo exhibition here, I did a very massive work, which is up there in this gallery.
My intention was not the money but the message I want to pass across. The title of the exhibition was ‘Priceless’ and I was talking about souls and how we don’t understand the value of human beings based on the way we are dealing with ourselves.
“I didn’t want to sell the work but Mama Nike insisted on buying it and then I realised that there is value in this work and I started doing it.
Today, I have done four commissioned portraits in this style,” Durodola explained further.
Meanwhile, in her foreword for the upcoming exhibition, Nike Okundaye, founder and creative director, Nike Art Gallery Lagos and Abuja, noted that the title of the solo exhibition took her back to the early days when she first sought out Yusuf Durodola, whom she described as ‘a man of the hour’.
“As you explore the works in this exhibition, including the CATOMAG (a blend of Catalogue and Magazine), the essence of re-imagining is palpable,” Mama Nike said.
According to her, Yusuf’s mastery extends beyond repurposing discarded materials, as it challenges how people approach exhibitions and everything that surrounds them.
“This exhibition represents not only his continuous ascent in the recycled/upcycled art world but a shift in perspective for all who engage with his collectibles.
“Titled Ìràpadà: Re-interpretation of Discarded Materials, this body of work symbolizes a kind of rebirth. It invites us to shed old ways of seeing, sparking within us fresh insight and creative possibilities. The transformative power of this exhibition lies in its ability to inspire, to remind us that nothing is beyond reach if we are determined to achieve it. This, and so much more, is what Yusuf Durodola continues to prove through his art and vision,” she concluded in the forward.
Once again, ÌRÀPADÀ: Re-Interpretation of Discarded Materials runs at Nike Art Gallery Abuja from November 14, to December 20, 2024.
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