Uzo Egonu - Painting in Darkness

Uzo Egonu, Nigerian Modernism exhibition, at Tate Modern.

The work of Uzo Egonu was part of the Nigerian Modernism exhibition. I loved the whole exhibition and discovered so many artists whose work I had not seen before. Egonu's work was one of my favourites, so I have decided to do a separate post on it. You can see the other four posts on this exhibition through the search facility on the right of the screen.

A Nigerian artist living in postwar Britain, Egony dedicated his work to themes of nationhood and belonging. Born in 1931, in Nigeria, Egonu began painting and drawing at a young age. He moved to the UK as a teenager and later enrolled at Camberwell College of Arts and Crafts in London.

The devastating loss of life during the Nigerian Civil War left a deep impression on Egonu as an Igbo artist. Although he only briefly returned to Nigeria once in 1977, he remaiend deeply invested in the struggles of the emerging independent nation.

In his work, he blended the figurative and the abstract, fusing the aesthetics of European modernism with traditional Igbo sculpture and Uli wall art. Egony became interested in etching, exploring what he described as 'the poetry of lines'. However, this process exposed him to toxic fumes and by 1979 he had lost much of his vision. During this period, which he described as 'painting in darkness', he created some of his most vibrant and expressive painting - Stateless People for instance. 

Poetess, 1980, (oil on canvas)

Stateless People, 1981, (oil on canvas)

Stateless People: an artist with Beret, 1981, (oil on canvas)

The Stateless People series draws on the bold, graphic qualities of Egonu's printmaking. Each painting centres on a creative activity: music, art and poetry. The figures serve as metaphors for the alienation and exile experienced by many artists forced to leave their homelands due to political or social intolerance. Post-war reconciliation in Nigeria had brought with it a vision of growth and progress, while the oil boom elevated the country's economic standing. Yet, alongside this optimism, the era was also marked by corruption. Egony noted that a country 'without a permanent foundation, foresight, common sense and ambition for the good of the country... is non-existent'. He felt that anyone who inahabits such a place is 'symbolically stateless'.

Will Knowledge Safeguard Freedom 2, 1985, (oil on canvas)

In this painting, Egonu reflects on the interdependence of power and knowledge. He explores how creative endeavours and technological advancement shape the destiny of humankind. For Egonu, the challenges of modern nation-building across Africa were a source of deep anxiety and sorrow.

His composition presents figures engaged in a range of activities. A ladder stands within reach yet remains unused, implying that advancement is available to humanity only through the pursuit of knowledge. While the overall colour palette is subdued, Egony introduces the image of a flower as an emblem of hope and optimism.

Woman in Grief, 1968, (oil on canvas)

Piccadilly Circus, 1969, (oil on canvas)

This painting expresses Egonu's anguish and despair during the period when the region of Nigeria that he once called home seceded to form the Republic of Biafra. Even though he embraced this new Biafran identity, he was very concerned about the fact that his ties to his homeland were strained by both conflict and distance.

Hair Plaiting, 1867, (oil on canvas)

Artist Painting Mother and Child, 1978, (oil on canvas)

Woman Reading, 1978, (oil on canvas)

Nigerian Modernism - 4

Nigerian Modernism - 4,

at Tate Modern.

This is the fourth post on this exhibition. As usual I am including the introduction which also appeared in the other three posts.

Nigerian modernism was not a single movement, but a variety of responses to the country's shifting cultural and political identity. Nigeria was established as a British colony in 1914. By this time, prosperous African kingdoms and societies had been profoundly altered by decades of military campaigns and colonial exploitation. Under British rule, artists continued to find innovative ways to express their ideas, histories and imaginations. They embraced and rebelled against the colonial education system. Some created their own art societies and curriculums, while others travelled abroad in search of professional opportunities.

Throughout Nigeria, artists were influenced by Pan-Africanism and European art forms. They also drew inspiration from local cultures. Artistic and religious traditions from the region's many ethnic groups - including Fulani-Hausa, Igno and Yoruba peopoe - met Christian and Islamic practices.

In 1960 Nigeria gained independence from Britain. New artistic and literary clubs were founded across the country, providing spaces to explore the intersections of art, poetry and performance. During this time Nigeria experienced an economic boom, but it also faced a devastating civil war. In the aftermath, artists established new visual languages in their search for a new postcolonial identity.

Obiora Udechuksu, Refugees, 1977, (oil on board)

Obiora Udechukwu, Musician, 1975-76, (oil on board)

Obiora Udechukwu, The Moon Has Ascended Between Us, 1976, (oil on hardboard)

Obiora Udechukwu, 1946, 1993, (ink and acrylic on stretched canvas) - 4 panels

A bold yellow spiral unravels across the canvas symbolising the sacred python, a divine guide in Igbo cosmology. To create layered designs, Udechukwu used sgraffito, a technique in which a sharp implement is pulled through wet acrylic paint. Shadowy figures embedded in the yellow band evoke wartime displacement and national crisis. Udechukwu references the Nigerian Civil War and perhaps the political unrest which followed Nigeria's 1993 election.

El Anatsui, Solemn Crowds at Dawn, 1965, (tropical hardwoods, tempera and house paint)

El Anatsui, Leopard's Paw-Prints and Other Stories, 1991, (tropical hardwood)

El Anatsui, Earth-Moon Connexions, 1993, (wood, paint)

El Anatsui incised Uli, Nsibidi and other indigenous graphic languages into the surfaces of his wooden sculptures.

Using chisels, a chain saw and fire, he cut and burnt designs into the wood's surface. For Anatsui, the chainsaw is a metaphor for the violence of slavery. his works explore the destruction and reconstitution of African cultures before and after colonialism.

Tayo Adenaike, Alhaji Takes the Floor, 1980, (pen, ink and watercolour on paper)

Adebisi Fabunmi, Masquerade, 1965, (lino print on cloth)

Nigerian Modernism - 3

Nigerian Modernism - 3

at Tate Modern.

Nigerian modernism was not a single movement, but a variety of responses to the country's shifting cultural and political identity. Nigeria was established as a British colony in 1914. By this time, prosperous African kingdoms and societies had been profoundly altered by decades of military campaigns and colonial exploitation. Under British rule, artists continued to find innovative ways to express their ideas, histories and imaginations. They embraced and rebelled against the colonial education system. Some created their own art societies and curriculums, while others travelled abroad in search of professional opportunities.

Throughout Nigeria, artists were influenced by Pan-Africanism and European art forms. They also drew inspiration from local cultures. Artistic and religious traditions from the region's many ethnic groups - including Fulani-Hausa, Igno and Yoruba people - met Christian and Islamic practices.

In 1960 Nigeria gained independence from Britain. New artistic and literary clubs were founded across the country, providing spaces to explore the intersections of art, poetry and performance. During this time Nigeria experienced an economic boom, but it also faced a devastating civil war. In the aftermath, artists established new visual languages in their search for a new postcolonial identity.

Georgina Beier, Gelede, 1966, (woodcut)

Georgina Beier, Untitled, 1988, (oil on hardboard)

A fantastical world of humanoids, birds and reptiles in an expressionistic style.

Jacob Afolabi, Untitled, 1984, (oil on board)

Rufus Ogundele, Sacrifice to Ogyn, God of Thunder, 1965, (oil on board)

Rufus Ogundele, Iyo Sango at the Shrine, 1965, (oil on canvas)

Ogundele once remarked: 'Some call me the 'Picasso of Nigeria'... What sense is there in saying that I, an African, produced work which resembles the man who has copied African art? That's nonsense, Rufus is Rufus'.

Twins Seven-Seven, Condemning Witchcraft - Red Skulls, 1968, (oil on board)

Jimoh Buraimoh, Figural Abstract, 1973, (beadwork on panel)

Buraimoh's bead paintings recall the intricate surfaces of traditional Yoruba beaded cloaks, staffs, crowns and stools. In Yorubaland, beads are sacred, inbued with ase (spiritual energy) and worn during ceremonies and worship of the Yoruba deities.

Nike Davies-Okundaye, Osyn, 1972, (embroidery)

Nike Davies-Okyndaye, Animal World, 1968, (embroidery)

Nike Davies-Okyndaye, Osun, the Goddess of the River, 1987,  (batik with natural dyes)

Muraina Oyelarni, Birds in the garden, 1971, (oil on paper)

Muraina Oyelami, Untitled (Noble Man), 1965, (oil on canvas)

Muraina Oyelami, Shrine, (oil on canvas)

Nigerian Modernism - 2

Nigerian Modernism - 2

at Tate Modern.

This is the second post on this exhibition. You can see the first one here . As usual, I am including the introduction from the first one in this post.

 

Nigerian modernism was not a single movement, but a variety of responses to the country's shifting cultural and political identity. Nigeria was established as a British colony in 1914. By this time, prosperous African kingdoms and societies had been profoundly altered by decades of military campaigns and colonial exploitation. Under British rule, artists continued to find innovative ways to express their ideas, histories and imaginations. They embraced and rebelled against the colonial education system. Some created their own art societies and curriculums, while others travelled abroad in search of professional opportunities.

Throughout Nigeria, artists were influenced by Pan-Africanism and European art forms. They also drew inspiration from local cultures. Artistic and religious traditions from the region's many ethnic groups - including Fulani-Hausa, Igno and Yoruba peopoe - met Christian and Islamic practices.

In 1960 Nigeria gained independence from Britain. New artistic and literary clubs were founded across the country, providing spaces to explore the intersections of art, poetry and performance. During this time Nigeria experienced an economic boom, but it also faced a devastating civil war. In the aftermath, artists established new visual languages in their search for a new postcolonial identity.

Ladi Kwali, Shallow bowl, (stoneware)

Uche Okeke, Primeval Beast, 1967 (oil on wood)

Uche Okeke. The Conflict (After Achebe), 1965, (oil on board)

This painting depicts a scene from Chinua Achebe's 1958 novel Things Fall Apart, set in pre-colonial Igboland. In the centre are the egwugwu, ancestral spirits that are part of Igbo masquerade. In the story Enoch, a convert to Christianity, violates Igbo sacred practices by unmasking an egwugwu. Achebe writes: 'The band of egwugwu moved like a furious whirlwind to Echoch's compound and with machete and fire reduced it to a desolate heap. And from there they made for the church, intoxicated with destruction'.

Demas Nwoko, Praise Singer, 1961, (oil on board)

Demas Nwoko, Nigeria in 1959, 1969, (oil on board)

This painting captures the tension and unease between colonical officers and their Nigerian subordinates on the eve of Nigerian indepence. The white officers are shown in various awkward poses, their drawn faces marked by fatigue and disillusionment. Nigerian soldiers, once enlisted to protect the colonial regime, loom in the background, seeming to herald the end of empire.

Demas Nwoko, Night Club in Dakar, 1963, (oil on board)

Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, Girl in Front of a Mirror, 1914, (woodcut)

Avinash Chandra, Hills of Gold, 1964, (oil on canvas)

Jimo Akolo, Fulani Horsemen, 1962, (oil on canvas)

Jimo Akolo, Man Hanging from a Tree, 1963, (oil on hardboard)

A figure with a white body and red skull hangs upside down beside a disembodied skull. These figures act as mysterious symbols within an expressive landscape of sweeping gestural brushstrokes. The sudden shifts from black to white, and from red to blue to yellow, convey a dramatic and unsettling mood.

Yusuf Grillo, Drummer's Return, 1983-99, (oil on board)

A group of drummers at the end of a long day. The gangan, or talking drum, can imitate the tone and rhythm of Yoruba speech. It can be used to praise, provoke or recount stories. The figures' stylised forms are given weight through thickly applied paint, while the abstract background, structured with vertical and horizontal lines, evokes the urban landscape of Lagos.

Yusuf Grillo, The Seventh Knot, 1969, (oil on board)

A stylised figure which recalls the African mask forms that influenced Cubist art. Grillo was drawn to the colour blue, influenced by the deep indigo tones of traditional Yoruba textiles and the sombre works from Picasso's Blue Period.

Jimo Akolo, Northern Horsemen, 1963, (oil on canvas)

Jimo Akolo, Hausa Drummer, 1961, (oil on board)

Simon Okeke, Heads of Two Women, 1961, (watercolour on paper)

Bruce Onobrakpeya, Negritude, 1960, (oil on board)

Solomon Irein Wangboje, Portrait of a Man, 1965, (woodcut on paper)

I have to say here, that I found this exhibition very poorly curated and organised.  There were so many paintings where it was impossible to tell who the artist was. I asked the guards (I never know what the people guarding the rooms are called) and they tried, but could not make any sense of a lot of it either. So, I might have attributed some paintings to the wrong artist. Equally, I do not know who the artists of the painting above, or the ones below is. But, I like them, so I have included them.

This and the ones below might be the work of Ubgodaga-Ngu's work. Many of her works capture women traders in market scenes. She was the first Nigerian woman to receive European artistic training.

Efhabor Emokpae, The New Seekers, 1969, (oil on board)

Erhabot Emokpae 

Okpu Eze, Untitled, 1989, (woodcut)

Okpu Eze, (mahogany)