Interview with Oluwole Omofemi

23/03/20
Interview: Oluwole Omofemi


Oluwole Omofemi: The Way We Were
Signature African Art, London

12 March – 16 April 2020

Oluwole Omofemi (b1988, Ibadan, Nigeria) always wanted to be an artist, despite opposition from his family. As a child, he learned about the civil rights movement and the natural hair movement of the late 60s and early 70s from his grandfather, who, at the time, sported an afro. Omofemi now uses hair in his paintings as a metaphor for freedom and power, and as a symbol of identity. Some of his series use the more muted palette of the old masters, showing how entrenched identity and culture are in a person’s belief system; others use a brighter, pop art palette, portraying energy and strength and looking to the future. Whatever the style, he considers his work to be African at heart.

One work in particular stands out from the others on display – In Her (2019), depicting a bald woman set against a bright, almost street art-style background, covered in words such as hope, love, aspiration and queen. This piece is dedicated to Omofemi’s grandmother, who died of cancer, as well as to raising awareness of the disease, and showing that a cancer diagnosis is not necessarily the end of everything: there is always hope. Other works are dedicated to his mother, through the use of floral patterns. In general, Omofemi sees women as close to God, in their ability to love, accept and forgive. This is why the majority of his subjects – and all of those in this exhibition – are female.

I spoke to Omofemi just before the opening of his first exhibition in London, at Signature African Art’s new Mayfair venue.

Watch the interview here

Interview with Serge Attukwei Clottey

17/03/17

Interview: Serge Attukwei Clottey

Born in Ghana in 1985, Serge Attukwei Clottey made his name internationally before he was finally recognised in his own country, thanks to a new commercial art gallery, Gallery 1957. His performances involve him and his collective, GoLokal, dressing in women’s clothes to collect plastic “gallons” (jerrycans used in Ghana to transport and store water), which he then cuts and uses as a mask, a canvas, or a basic building block for his installations. They have drawn positive responses, but also criticism from local people who do not understand the message – often political or social commentary – of his work. Despite a pending residency in Mexico, and being busy creating new work in between international art fairs, Attukwei Clottey found time to speak to Studio International via Skype from Accra.

Read this interview here

Film overview: When the Heavens Meet the Earth at Heong Gallery, Downing College, Cambridge

09/03/17

When the Heavens Meet the Earth 

Heong Gallery, Downing College, Cambridge

25 February - 21 May 2017

When the Heavens Meet the Earth – the fourth exhibition at the Heong Gallery at Downing College, Cambridge is showcasing a small

selection from Robert Devereux’s African art, or Sina Jina, collection.

In 2010, the multimillionaire, formerly a partner in the Virgin empire and Richard Branson’s brother-in-law, sold off two-thirds of his collection of postwar British art and used the £4 million proceeds to set up a charity supporting artists in Africa. The African Arts Trust, as it was named, supports grassroots organisations, which, in turn, support African artists with basic needs such as studios and residencies.

The exhibition specifically seeks to include some lesser-known artists, but there are some established names as well, including El Anatsui, 2013 Turner Prize nominee Lynette Yiadom-Boakye and Ibrahim Mahama, who showed in Venice in 2015 and currently has an exhibition at White Cube Bermondsey, London. Another well-known name is the South African photographer Zanele Muholi, whose work with the LGBTQ community places her at continual risk in a censorious and critical society.

Ranging across photography, painting, sculpture and film, the exhibition evidences the wealth of artistic creativity and output from the second largest continent in the world.

Studio International spoke to Devereux at the opening of the exhibition.

Watch this film here