By Henry Akubuiro
The idyllic ambience at Alexis Galleries located at Akin Olugbade Street, Victoria Island, Lagos, is hosting patrons of art, art collectors and artists to an ongoing group exhibition featuring nine artists entitled “Mirrors of Our Time”, which runs from November 16 — 30, 2024. The artists include Arinze Stanley, Jacqueline Suowari, Ayogu Kingsley, Okolo Oliver, David Kaydee, Otaru Oscar Ukonu, Chukwuebuka Chukwuemeka, Olawale Moses and Celesta Jonah.
Patty Chidiac Mastrogiannis, the founder of Alexis Galleries, describes them as leading interdisciplinary artists working with diverse approaches to medium and style in painting, hyper realism, ball pen, mixed media collage, and chiaroscuro. Through their reflective yet breathtaking works, she said “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.”
Uche Obasi, the curator of Mirrors of Our Time offers more insights on the works in his curatorial statement where he explains that they reveal a world and time permeated by external realities, grappling from diffusion of new media, consumer recesses, to unchecked desires. Mirror of Our Time also captures a number of evocative yet intimate issues on our shared collective identity and reality, exploring the unspoken burden, the unchecked demands, and the pressures present in the world.
Visitors to Alexis Galleries will be impressed with this crop of artists. A telltale sign was offered to journalists during the preview. Like their massive, profound artworks on display, the swanky, youth looking are redefining comfy living and exuberant art at the same time.
One of Arinze Stanley’s works, “Under the Influence”, a hyperrealistic painting, symbolises the pressures exerted by society, the media, and digital validation, giving rise to distortions of perception. The artist encourages us to look beyond the shrouds and see the hidden reality. He explained that “we live in curated reality in Nigeria”, evidenced in another work on display entitled “Fruit of Labour.”
Deploying a ball pen, Oscar Ukonu explores the dynamic interplay between identity and public representation foisted by the media. Hence, his “Face Value” work deploys the human face as a central motif, as it examines how identity is both revealed and obscured in a society where perception is shaped by the press.
David Kaydee Otaru, on his part, weaves semi-transparent hues of ghoulish images in domestic settings. These images, captured by the artist randomly, are uncannily recognisable. Through this, Otaru examines the evolving relationship between art and technology in a rapidly driven contemporary society.
Deploying charcoal and graphite, Adesiyan Olawale Moses creates intricate softly rendered textures and details, which mirror how cultural tradition and modernity cohabit today in the world. His “Omidan,” for instance, epitomises the strength, grace, and quiet resilience of young women in Yoruba culture.
Celesta Jonah interrogates the vulnerability crisis within society’s expectations of masculinity. In “Boys Don’t Cry,” she depicts the emotional suppression faced by men out of public glare. She told journalists that deviates from the norm in her works, “I venture where others don’t go.”
Oliver Okolo’s “Violet Dreams in a Golden Shell”, an oil and charcoal painting, shows a lady unfazed by the weight of history and identity. It captured the duality of quiet resolve and emotional depth.
Chukwuebuka Chukwuemeka’s works explore staining monochromatic earthy colours on paper, melding charcoal, pastel and coffee, he adopts chiaroscuro techniques that achieves an almost original photo appearance. His works shed light on identity, representation and personal experience.
Jacqueline Suowari’s “Sunset in Banana Island” portrays a powerful vision of contemporary African womanhood, merging elegance with cultural identity. Deploying ballpoint pen strokes on paper to a captivating effect, she explores profound moral notions shaped by shared human experiences, body language, cultural influences, identity and mental health. She said her works for the exhibition focused on human hair, while exploring the connection between the land of her birth and the West.
For Kingsley Ayogu, his mixed media collages stemmed from the realities of modern African lives. He blends materiality, utility, and meaning by incorporating unconventional materials like sponge and net, which result in striking brilliant colours blending and foregrounding the intricate artistic contraption.
Part of the proceeds from the exhibition will be going to Loving Gaze, a charity home in Lagos. 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.