By Henry Akubuiro
At 72, Malcolm Udogwu’s peers may be retiring from active service, but he is still champing at the bit. Though it wasn’t originally considered a career path, Udogwu has found himself treading the same path as Leonardo da Vinci and Rembrandt van Rijn in the art world. Udogwu divides his time between multiple interests: journalism, creative writing, photography, painting and sculpture. He is the author of The Soul of the Conquered, a Biafra recollection; and To Whom Much is Given, a work of fiction.
Udogwu is an uncelebrated virtuoso of the arts, looking at his rich portfolio, which include 200 sublime artworks. Since 1983, he has been part of the Nigerians in diaspora, living and working in the US. Coming from Nigeria in 1983, he was impressed by the scale of organisation he witnessed in the US, both in high tech and manpower, which he described as “high bred and top notch”. One particular experience has remained most memorable, however.
He told Daily Sun in an interview: “Barely a few months after my arrival in New York, I had gone to see the singer Diana Ross in a concert in Central Park. I had never seen such a mammoth in such an intimate gathering of human beings in an open park. There was heavy downpour and thunder that roused the audience to a new frenzy. In all, Dianna Ross stayed on stage belting out her songs in hand waves. I was frozen in the moment, and that experience has stayed with me over three decades.”
Another unforgettable experience as a writer was the day he met and interviewed Professor Chinua Achebe in his Bard University residence in upstate New York. For seven years, Udogwu was the Editor of Igbo Voice Magazine, published by Igbo Organisation in New York, which afforded him an opportunity to interview the legendary Chinua Achebe. “That moment was the highlight of my writing career,” he said with delight.
“His book, Home from Abroad, had just been published. The debate in our Igbo community in New York was whether Professor Achebe was in exile? The unforgettable thing that happened was that I was so taken by his presence that, after the interview, I forgot to have him sign a copy of my book. We took photos, but the signed book would have been a toast well taken,” he remarked.
Compared to most contemporary artists, Udogwu is a self-taught artist. “It is true that I had never taken an art class before, but I was damn good at drawing as a teenager,” he told Daily Sun. He had gone to an International Arts Exhibition at the Jacob Javits Centre in Midtown Manhattan one day with his son, where they met with hundreds of painters and craft makers from all over the world. The atmosphere and the stage was captivating and their decorations were very colourful. Each artist was assigned sheds and their massive canvases were eye-catching. Almost as they were about to cue to the exit entrance, his son told him his drawings at home were better and more beautiful than some of the works on display. That observation stuck with Udogwu.
“The next day, on my way back from work, I branched to an art store, bought three 16×20 canvases and some bottles of acrylic paints, and painted my first art. That was in 1997. From then, it turned into a hobby and I became a casual painter. By 2021, I made up my mind to retire as a journalist and started using oil paints on most of my paintings. I also took to wood sculpture. I actually went to School of Photography for a semester, and have been active in the three diversions,” he said.
The Nigerian artist had a studio in Queens, New York. He uses his basement as a studio and another room as an office. “I am yet to commit to any commercial exhibition, but I have attended two non profit-fairs. I have devoted much time to painting, and I love painting in large canvases mostly with oil paints. My subjects are mostly African,” he explained.
Udogwu’s website describes him as a “Mud House Genius”. Curious? “The name is not lost in mystery,” he said. “It goes back to the American experience. The intensive training that goes on among Americans in all aspects of their profession can be intimidating. I then wondered at the African child who may not have the opportunity to compete at these level meets. At one time, I watched an African top athlete emerge from the family compound built of mud. And there it hit me: the Mud House Genius.”
So far, he has created about 200 paintings in his studio. He has also continued to write and take photographs. He added: “I write about social justice, interviews, and travelogue. I love to write about people and places. I would love to publish photo books based on African arts and crafts. I love nature.”