By Henry Akubuiro
Different eras of Nigerian art have defined their place in history just as one of the most influential artists of the contemporary period, Abiodun Olaku, strengthens his generation with a new solo art exhibition. With his consistency in realism, Olaku no doubt, has built strong followership, eagerly looking forward to his next solo 20 years after his last outing.
Olaku had his last solo show entitled Stimulus, at Terra Kulture, Victoria Island, Lagos, in 2004. Twenty years after, his new solo art exhibition titled Odyssey: A Retrospective of Drawings and Paintings, which opens on October 19, ending November 3, 2024 at National Museum Onikan Lagos, brings more than just a display of creativity, but also the celebration of the artist.
One of the revered artists and scholars in Africa’s art space, Kunle Filani, tracked Olaku’s pedigree to the artist’s alma mater, noting that he and his like from Yaba College of Technology Lagos, are shining examples of formal art training. “The story of the famous Yaba Art School may not have been completed without chronicling the contributions of outstanding alumni such as Olaku and the likes who through consistent practice continue to sustain the tradition of naturalism in art, and insist that the culture of verisimilitude is dynamic; infused with the concept of change and continuity,” Filani stated.
From his essay, “Voyage of Adventures: Abiodun Olaku and the Poetics of Nature”, Filani described the artist as a professional whose dignity uplifted his art as much as two generations of artists. “Abiodun Olaku is a dignified and solemn gentleman,” Filani noted, linking the artist’s character to his studio works that build bridges across generations. “He never indulges in any form of debauchery. His art comes first; this is perhaps one of the reasons why he is trusted by connoisseurs and respected bycolleagues. His carriage is striking in spite of his modest way of dressing. He defines and represents a positive identity and image for the successful artist. No wonder, he is a role model to numerous younger artists and even contemporaries.”
On Olaku’s artistic strength, Professor of history of art and theory, Frank Ugiomoh viewed the artist’s work from what the responsibility of humanity to nature. “The aesthetic dimensions of his body of work proposed to enact the call for restraint as modern consciousness strips nature of its beauty by creating the impression that nature is at the service of humanity,” Ugiomoh wrote in his piece, The Contours of Forms and Its Content in Abiodun Olaku’s Work”, stressing, “In sum, Olaku’s body of work proclaims the enviable narrative that returns consciousness to a deep appreciation of nature or non-human actors and the urge to regard humans and their activities as nature’s co-equals.”
An American artist, Michaal Newberry probed into one of the works of Olaku and explained that “the application of the oil paint is smooth and detailed, yet there is no sense of over-polishing or overworking.” Newberry, an artist of over six decades studio practice added: “Rather, the entire painting hums with energy and life. The rivers’ banks form a dramatic one-point perspective with the vanishing point slightly above the group of men center-right and expand fan-like towards the foreground. All the earth elements and their reflections are darkly colored with a mysterious dusty tone.
Extract from Newberry’s Introductory essay to Odyssey, “The Extraordinary Art of Abiodun Olaku” says: “The second wondrous optical element is that each one of the points of light—specifically their brightness and intensity—are created into spatial relationships with each other. Pick out any three points of light and see if you can detect the spatial depth between them. Our eyes will begin to feel as if we are there in real life. The stunning achievement of this painting is taking what might be an ordinary scene from Nigerian life and transforming it into a wondrous world of wisdom, knowledge, respect, and love for existence.”
Enriching the preview contents of his solo exhibition, Olaku recalled early life and how the challenges faced as a young person probably shows what he is today. “I don’t think I was settled as a young person until I was nine years plus to remember staying in one place. That was when my dad passed on in 1969. I was ten going to eleven. At that point, I was part of the family, and I had a colourful background, in Ibadan with my dad. My dad later passed on while we were still living in Ibadan,” Olaku disclosed to Mufu Onifade in a piece titled ‘I am Work in Progress.’
“And when I came to Lagos, I had to finish up my primary school education at Sunnyfields Primary School in Surulere, which incidentally, as I got to know later, was the same school former Governor Babatunde Fashola attended. I guess I must have been a few years ahead of him,” Olaku told Onifade. “So, we came back to Lagos in 1969 after the burial (of his father). Life had to go on, and I was admitted to the Baptist Academy in January 1970 for my secondary education. That was where things started to happen differently. But, those were my early years as I can recollect. That was probably the period too that I remember doing anything that was art-related. My great-grandmother stayed with us and I can remember faintly doing sketches of her. That was my earliest period in art.”
Photo caption: The City That Never Sleeps – Story of Lagos (oil on canvas, 38x 50.5 inches, dated 2022-23) by Abiodun Olaku.