By Henry Akubuiro
Twenty years after Wallace Ejoh’s palette carved a niche in impressionistic art, the artist will be making his first ever solo exhibition with Impressions De Novo.
A strong diverse set of paintings, Ejoh’s Impressions De Novo, will be showing from May 21-30, 2022, at Signature Beyond Art Gallery, 107, Awolowo Road Ikoyi Lagos. The exhibition, too, affords the artist to share his rich experience in dual practice of studio and teaching art informally, across Nigeria, of which he proudly said contributed to his fresh styles and technique in art of impressionism.
Explaining the theme during a preview, Ejoh said “Impressions de Novo” meant “Impressions Anew”, adding “one can see that there has been a shift in my colour pallet,” even as he likened the freshness of his canvas to inner strength and spirituality that echoes “when the inner spirit has liberation, then inspiration is born.”
This, that’s exactly what inspires the freshness in his new body of work. Ejoh recalled that moving his studio from Apapa Road, commercial area, to Ikorodu town offered him a sereen space and peace of mind that produced the new body of work.
Why did Ejoh wait for 20 years after graduation before having his debut solo art exhibition? He said, “Afer graduation from Yaba College of Technology, Lagos, I have been involved in teaching fine art and mentoring students from various art schools in Nigeria, for free as a volunteer.” Teaching art for free, he disclosed “gives me joy and a sense of fulfilment when I see my students become successful artists in the industry.” He explained that it’s also his contribution to nation building, particularly in Nigeria where leadership quality is a challenge. “The function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers.”
Ejoh recalled how passionate he has been about imparting art knowledge onto others. “Despite my dedication to studio practice, the most significant thing I have done beyond painting is teaching. I started teaching art students in 2002. The first student that came to me then was Solomon Omogboye, who is now based in South Africa. Since that time till now, I keep accepting students for internship. I have trained more than 100 students. At the Universal Studios Of Arts (USA), National Arts Theatre, Iganmu, Lagos where I was an Instructor, they often get students as many as 80 (from various higher institutions of learning), at a given period. So, I must have trained not less than 100 students.”
On the theme of the exhibition, Ejoh’s colleague and writer, Mufu Onifade also shared the artist’s art perspective as regards the USA facility.
“He felt unwanted anymore, lost confidence in the system and entity called the Universal Studios, and then decided to move on without drawing flanks with anyone,” Onifade said under the heading ‘Departure from Universal Studios’. “Hence his move to a new studio at Apapa, a little distance from the National Theatre where the Universal Studios is situated.”
Onifade also explained the exhibition from the ‘newness’ context. “In the new dispensation of Wallace Ejoh’s approach to painting, the fresh idea and his colour application subdue the intensity of colour,” Onifade wrote in the catalogue of the exhibition. He noted that Ejoh’s brush movements, among other values make the best of combined style and technique.
Excerpts from Onifade’s review: “Brush strokes now truly ventilates his roots with colours not so brilliant. Indeed, it is all about two major features: the colour on one hand and the technique of painting on the other. Ejoh’s palette has matured with years of consistent practice. It has gone through different stages of metamorphosis, and the results have been so profound that his mastery of colour is simply masterly! A Yoruba parlance says, “Akoko to n ge’gi n’igbo, o ni’hun to fe gba lodo igi ni” (Oladapo: 1975). When the woodpecker pecks away at the stem of a tree, its mission and purpose are sacrosanct.
«In the matters of Wallace Ejoh’s professional concerns and practice, the woodpecker and the wood it pecks at reinforce a metaphorical aphorism of the artist and his purpose. This is exemplified in Ejoh’s art and its effects on the society, which has been sustained over the years. He has a purpose to rejig his art and make new offerings that can make mincemeat of whatever kind of misrepresentation he had suffered in the hands of those young artists who had either copied or misappropriated his technique and style.”