CRACK EXHIBITION
CURATORIAL STATEMENT
Crack refers to the first light of day, the crack of dawn. It signifies the end of a time that leads to the start of a new period, the in-between and the journey to dawn. In this context, CRACK is more than a time window, time here has morphed into a place, a path, a subject, a being. The exhibition expands on the idea of coming full circle as a dawning of time or era, a metaphorical daybreak or a realisation dawning on a consciousness – like the light that dawns on a day.
In recognising their crack of dawn, this debut of SOTO gallery catalysed the dialogue on shared dawning only realised by a solemn check and balance, a call to observe and acknowledge. As such, the artists were invited to investigate their definitions of a dawning, foreshadowed by their immediate state of being and personal odysseys amid recent sweeping occurrences and the resultant global fatigue.
The exhibition casts a broad net to capture the divergence in the artists’ practices and lives, they were confronted to pause, ponder and consider inflection points in their current existence within and away from the nebulous meandering and restlessness that is intrinsic to contemporary living. The eight artists address weighty psychological dilemmas arising from the complexities of economic, religious, sociocultural, identity and political realities. The discourse moves towards responses to interpretations of their place in society, their relativity to past and recent memory, shared history, recurring cycles and the unrelenting curiosity of human coexistence and life in perpetuity.
The artists approach the exercise from a therapeutic point of view and invite the audience to join in, offering no room for hiding, baring it all in a flow that ultimately transcends canvas and space, converges memory and present with measured vulnerability. As such, the works shown in this exhibition are largely based on introspective emotions, conducting internal dialogues, expressed through understanding in flux what it means to exist, survive and thrive as a living human today.
The subjects of the works range from characteristic forms and figures layered with allegorical emblems conveying familiar sentiments in strange places, moods and reactions made vivid with colours, postures and compositional imbalances, metaphorical manoeuvring that frequently melts away into intense pronouncements, undefined complex emotions that unravel into the simplest outpouring and indistinct figurative impressions steeped in circumstantial scenarios made to feel the passing of time.
The aggregate message of the works in this exhibition invites the audience and artist alike to pause – within the many transformations, the changes or reaction to changes, to pause within the frame of present and examine, acknowledge and if possible, determine.
CRACK is an actionable state of present observation but also an acknowledgement and solemn appraisal to notably highlight these requisite points, that may serve as a driving force for dynamic understanding of the past and hopeful navigators for the future. This act is a dump that creates a passage, a loading of new realities to be formed. To crack is to recognise the turn of the clock as it strikes for you as a result of us.
Crack features the following artists – Victor Ekwu, Mary Funmilola Onidare, Bertha Onyekachi, Muraina
Oyelami, Sor Sen, Laju Sholola, Johnson Uwadimma and Uche Uzorka
Curator
Arinola Olowoporoku
Exhibiting Artists
Laju Sholola
Trapped
This body of work aims to reflect on struggles of self realisation deterred by acceptance. Fears of cluelessness, trapped in the maze of my abilities, the imagined possibilities, self imposed limitations, ashamed of my vulnerability, convinced I have not the tools to break forth. I have become a fixed puzzle, finding answers, finding response, finding ways, trapped in the maze of myself (that is myself).
Bertha holds a BSc in Fine and Applied arts. Her paintings elucidate the personal experiences that shape her, the philosophies that guide her and the stories that compel her. Her works traverse institutionalised socio-economic phenomenon especially as regards the girl child, womanhood and everyday life. Laju Sholola is a self-taught artist working and living in Lagos.
Mary Onidare
Finding Whole..
Mary expresses herself mostly in oil and acrylic, FINDNG WHOLE largely depicts and navigates adolescent experiences, struggles that bring us to the adults we find ourselves. In understanding the socio-cultural underpinnings that determine perception, Mary resorts to expanding and examining past life occurrences. She discusses topics of personal development, internal struggles and continuous life lessons. Finding whole is a moment and a series of developments that leads an individual back to their original source to ascertain the current state and project the future.
Mary Funmilola Onidare is a young and resourceful artist who graduated with a Bachelors of Arts Degree (BA) in Fine Arts in 2018. She currently works and lives as a full time studio artist in Lagos, manoeuvring her creative skills through the murky water of modern art, using painting as the preferred genre.
Victor Ekwu
Conception
In his work Victor depicts the uncertain process of conception, he describes it as a metaphysical sequence of events that conjure up something out of nothing. The absence of result could resemble the perception of stillness, an unintended pause. From excruciating cycles in his life, he describes stages of hopelessness, guilt, shame and hope. It is vital to examine our journeys as individuals perpetually coasting through different stages of conception in our lives. Using colour, posture and composition, I reflect the emotions and mind frame in my forms as observed in reality and my true understanding of the tangible. I primarily work in acrylic.
Victor Elaigwu’s intricate acrylic line strokes on canvas with bright infill colors lay a thematic origin in everyday inspiration and activities. Drawing a strong creative innovation from the prestigious Osogbo art school, his works dance around African motifs, religion and abstract infusions.
Johnson Uwadimma
Journey Through Time
My work offers an opportunity for me to reflect on historical and sociological issues with particular heed to how society affects my individuality as well as the profound impact of today’s contemporary culture. In that regard, I explore politics, religion, collective memory, consumerism, and Nigeria’s chequered historiography. I often employ fragmented hues, invented and known symbols, letters and alphabets, as a means to tickle the imagination of the viewer in a process to urge recollection and a journey through memory. Looking into relationships and cohabitation, I seek to explore where we have gone wrong and offer an opportunity, through my work, for discourse and dialogue towards problem solving.
Events offer opportunities to ruminate on historical occurrences and narratives that have shaped our lives and the worlds trajectory. In exploring these trajectories I use the body as a marker of identity and experiences, a reservoir of memory, and the inexhaustible ways that gestural pose could reflect times. How the body is perceived offers an opportunity to review questions around identity profiling and the politics of subjugation. My work examines these and offers a springboard for a better enriched dialogue and understanding that is laced with empathy and support.
Johnson Uwadinma known for his paintings and installations that feature tessellating hues and multiple textures. Uwadinma’s work is characterised by an interest in truth, morality, memory, history and the never-ending intrigue of human co-existence. His work is defined by past and present experiences as well as current events. He holds an MA in Fine Arts from University of Port Harcourt. He has worked extensively within the arts over the last decade and a half. He lives and works in Port Harcourt, Nigeria.
Sor Sen
Samsara
“Samsara” is a mixed media triptych, that explores the “cyclicity” of life and a measured time of the existence of humans. As individuals, we are conceived and born, as suggested by a baby expressively painted on the first panel, and as we journey through a life of struggle, certainty and uncertainties all in a bid to find meaning, this is portrayed in the second panel, heightened with a design strategy that the artist adopted, by employing linear qualities that points to a tussle, this also suggests our search for the answers to our existential questions, like, who am I? Time goes by and we find out that all of our quests become immaterial just as humans do too, this is depicted in the third panel showing a faded figure in the background. There are also leaves in the background of the three panels, where some are depicted in a manner that they are attached to the stem and others are in a free fall, which is a metaphor for changing phases of life. This triptych is about the timed, vulnerable and delicate experience called life. It is also a wake-up call to everyone to do the things that make them come alive, as the clock ticks. Sen is interested in the human experience, exploring vulnerability, behavioural patterns and a host of other human emotions.
Sor Sen earned a Master of Fine Art (MFA) in Painting and a Bachelor’s degree in Fine Art from Nigeria’s premier art school, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. He has held solo shows and participated in a handful of group exhibitions. He lives and practices art full time in Abuja.
Uche Uzorka
Context
People move, move to the beat, human existence is not static, covid was a moment of dawn, we questioned our existence and the way of the world and everyone started to look at each other as the same. We thought we were safe little did we know that no country is immune to movement. The constant motion resulted in a global static, an open & close city, an eclipse or apparition of sorts where darkness comes to reveal. When one thing closes, other things are exposed.
Uche is a mixed media artist whose practice incorporates painting, college, cutting and painting, charcoal, and ink drawing in an examination of processes or urban street culture. His lines and colours arrange themselves in a Basquiat-esque manner, with abstract figures emerging through negative space. His drawings are an ode to Lagos in all its energetic splendour.
Muraina Oyelami
Muraina Oyelami is a renowned artist with over fifty years of experience in visual arts. He was among the first generation of artists to come out of the Oshogbo School of Arts in the 1960s. With a modernist style, his oil paintings display a direct sense of design and a blend of subtle muted colours with strong lines. His themes are influenced by the Yoruba culture, and the subject matter of his landscapes and portraits are often derived from daily life and individuals.
Bertha Onyekachi
Trapped
This body of work aims to reflect on struggles of self realisation deterred by acceptance. Fears of cluelessness, trapped in the maze of my abilities, the imagined possibilities, self imposed limitations, ashamed of my vulnerability, convinced I have not the tools to break forth. I have become a fixed puzzle, finding answers, finding response, finding ways, trapped in the maze of myself (that is myself).
Bertha holds a BSc in Fine and Applied arts. Her paintings elucidate the personal experiences that shape her, the philosophies that guide her and the stories that compel her. Her works traverse institutionalised socio-economic phenomenon especially as regards the girl child, womanhood and everyday life.