Maturation

I have nothing but apologies for the long silence that this site has endured. It has been almost a year ago since my maiden blog appeared. It has been, indeed, a long pause. Yet, so much has happened that warranted a ceaseless barrage of comments and views. Now that I have stepped back into the faculty, with the attendant relief from the quotidian administrative chores that being a Chair demanded, I hope to devote greater attention to this medium.
Even as I wrote the first blog, I was busy preparing for the keynote address that I delivered at the second Yusuf Grillo Pavilion Exhibition series in April of 2010 at Ikorodu, Nigeria. In contemporary Nigerian art, Grillo needs no introduction. The event, which was hosted by the founder of this series, Chief Rasheed Gbadamosi, was aimed at honoring one of Grillo’s peers: Bruce Onobrakpeya, who has been described as Africa’s Master Printmaker. I will remove the prefix, Africa though. Onobrakpeya is a Master Printmaker of international repute. Where does one begin to evaluate or analyze the numerous contributions that this artist has made to world art? His most recent foray into a workshop series through the Harmattan Workshop that he founded in his hometown, Agbara-Otor, is an example. This year’s event, the 13th in the series, will focus on a variety of media practices, under the directorship of Sam Ovraiti, a consummate watercolorist.
Equally important is a personal project of mine. My solo exhibition in Lagos, Nigeria, comes up on April 30th. I am using my leave this spring to focus on preparing for this show. It is exciting to be able to go back fully into the studio. I realized that my paintings provide an outlet for pent-up emotions regarding the state of the Nigerian nation. Issues pertaining to environmental degradation, as in the case of the Niger Delta, and corruption, simply continue to dodge my work. Much as I tried not to be consumed by what appears to be largely uncomplimentary thoughts about Nigeria, I have found it difficult not to share the trauma that comes from avoidable mismanagement by the political class in Nigeria, self-aggrandizement and unpardonable insensitivity to the plight of the marginalized seems to trump reason. My paintings are, to a large extent, an excoriation of a systemic plundering of a nation that is blessed with so much and yet has been laid waste by a handful group of individuals.
Given what is happening in the Arab world at this point, it does appear that something has to give with respect to Nigeria. Perhaps the coming elections might nip the issue in the bud. Or it might exacerbate it. The choice is the politicians’.

in the beginning…

Recently, I took my students on a field trip to the Indianapolis Museum of Art (IMA) for the umpteenth time. Of course, you would be right in assuming that this could not have been the same group of students. What has remained constant is the element of surprise that each trip has thrown up. The Eiteljorg Gallery of African Art at the IMA remains one of my favorite galleries in major museums that I have visited nation-wide. Ted Celenko, the curator, has been consistent—even clinical—in the attention that he has paid to such issues as labeling and clarity. One of the strengths of the gallery is the embedment of video clips within accessible cubicles at strategic locations throughout the gallery. When activated, these vignettes are the closest that generations of my students have come to Africa. And as always, they have always appreciated these pedagogical and informational devices.

The latest surprise came in the relocation of El Anatsui’s compelling work, Duvor. Previously, this piece was hung on the large wall that admits visitors to the Eiteljorg Gallery of African Art. Now, it has found a new home in the Contemporary Art Gallery of the same museum. This is a salutary move. Anatsui has re-invented our notion of appropriation in the series of large hangings that he has been producing in recent years. In my estimation, this belongs in the contemporary arena (where, by the way, Ghada Amer’s pieces are also resident.) I have not had any official explanations for this move, neither does the administration of IMA owe me one. To the extent that Anatsui’s name remains on the work, it will forever bear the imprint of his African-ness. The issue, thus, is the appropriateness of location. Contemporary art transcends ethnicity or boundaries of production. And this is what is reified in the current location of his work. It works for me.