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By Simeon Mpamugoh
Award-winning cartoon editor of The Sun Newspapers, Albert Ohams, recently staged a solo art show to mark his 60th birthday at Spotlight Creative Hub, Ligali Ayorinde Street, Lekki, Lagos.
Inspired by a humour merchant, Wale Adenuga, Ohams’ works had found expression in soft sell magazines and newspapers in comic or serious attention to Nigeria’s political or social dysfunction.
The exhibition, graced by industry heavyweights and stakeholders, art collectors and enthusiasts, had more than 17 works of various themes and hues on showcase, which dated from 2011 to date.
In a tribute to the artist, Mudiare Onobrakpeya noted that there were artists whose works entertain and those whose art “distills the spirit of a nation, probes its conscience, and records its deepest contradictions with ink, wit and wisdom,” adding: “Ohams belong unmistakably to the latter.”
He pointed out that, for over three and half decades, Ohams had wielded the cartoonist’s brush not merely as an instrument of humour, but as a scalpel of truth – cutting through layers of hypocrisy, power and pretence in Nigeria and beyond. He said: “Ohams emerged at a time when the Nigerian press was under strain, and cartooning demanded not only talent but bravery. But he did not flinch. He stood firm and his pen drawing lines that gave voice to the silenced, and laughter to the oppressed.”
The curator of the exhibition and founder NK Art Space, Ms Nancy Keshinro, stated that the theme, “Mastery and Milestones,” was more than an exhibition. She pointed out that it was a testament to a life steeped in artistic devotion, technical excellence and cultural storytelling. She added that Ohams’ six decades journey, culminating in the celebration of his 60th birthday was marked by an unwavering commitment to transforming emotions, history and everyday encounters with timeless visual poetry.
She noted that it had been so far so good. “The artist’s works have remained incredible. His cartoon content is not the regular type; it’s very unique and probes the political and societal malady. His work balances discipline with freedom, a quality only earned through years of unrelenting practice and fearless exploration.
“I’m particularly thrilled by the stylisation and hues of his artworks, especially the series entitled ‘This is Lagos,’ which mirrors the chaotic and everyday life of the city dwellers and ‘Burden of Womanhood’, which resonates well with me as a woman,” she said in a brief chat.
Giving a critical view of one of the works entitled “Emergency,” the Chief Executive Officer, Mind of the Masters Creative Gallery. Larry Segun Lean, took a particular interest in the work, which captured a helpless pregnant woman in her last trimester, on a tattered bicycle being led for a delivery.
He described it as the way our government has led us thus far; taking us back to the olden days when we had no nurse and midwife and delivery was taken anywhere, such that Nigerians were looking up to God for help.
He noted that the bicycle rider could be either Jonathan, Buhari or Tinubu,:who could not solve the problem of the pregnant woman because there were no medical facilities to take care of pregnant mothers and their new born babies.
“Where there is good governance, it’ll reflect on the people’s faces, and people’ll be ready to help those who are depressed and dejected in the society. Whether we agree or not, we are in a state of emergency. The toothpaste we bought for two thousand naira two years ago is now six thousand naira (N6,000.00),” he warned.
Extolling the artist for scaling up his practice, Segun Lean added that he had elevated his art beyond being a studio artist and a practitioner. “This is key to the visual and fine art sector. The vagaries of life have not drowned him into imbalance. We have had several artists who disappeared from the studio after stints in either advertising or the banking sector,” Lean observed.
For Dada Adekola, the President of Cartoonists Association of Nigeria (CARTAN) and Cartoon Editor of Vanguard Newspapers, who anchors the “Mr&Mrs Magazine” of the newspaper, described Ohams as the Onowu of the industry – meaning the person that crowns other cartoonists in the industry.
He said: “Since Ohams’ days in soft sell magazines – Prime People, Ikebe Supper, Today’s Choice, etc – he has been consistent. He is a unique artist as evidenced by his style as a painter and cartoonist. His works are quite different and refreshing. So I’m not surprised that we have a good outing with the exhibition to mark his 60th birthday celebration, with a lot of support from friends and organizations.”
One of his close friends and colleagues in the trade, Mike Asukwo, who had followed him for a long while, said that he liked the fact that he has the courage to embark on the project at this time when art collectors and patrons were feeling that buying artworks were secondary when there were still other pressing needs at the moment.
The corner CARTAN boss described some of the works as topical, pointing particularly to the work entitled Patient Masquerade for its mystery. “It’s like the artist is relating to the soul while some are relating to wonder. I also saw other works relating to governance. Every time we ask: “What’s the government ‘s intention?” But the government is always coming up with its intentions in rhetoric. It could be saying something and before one knows it, it has taken an action. One discovers then that the government , whether traditional or political, is masked in a lot of mystery.”
In his artist statement, he shared with his audience the trajectories that brought him thus far and those who helped to shape his career in the fine art and craft sub-sector of the economy. In his words: “The journey to this artistic level didn’t come easy but I owe a whole lot of gratitude to those who inspired me from early childhood to the present.”
