ART X LAGOS: NEW FOUND LOVES.

Lakin Ogunbanwo, Project One. 

Hey lovelies, Steph here. Okay, so yes, we weren't there but that doesn't stop us from really wishing we were. Through the lens of the lovely Wonuola Lawal's phone, we got to pretend like we were with her takeover on our Instagram taking us on a tour of the event. With the help of that and ArtX's interactive app, we were able to discover, secondhand, new artists amongst those who participated in the fair. Obviously, it is nothing like actually being there and experiencing it in full bloom but we can happily or grudgingly settle for what we have. Also a big well-done to the ArtX team for putting on this fantastic and pioneering show to strengthen the art fibre throughout Africa, even if it only held in Lagos, its impact is widespread.  So here are some artists I discovered and instantly fell in love with. 

Ananias Léki Dago. 

Ananias Leki Dago, Shebeen Blues # 43, 2007 

The moment I set my eyes on the work of this Ivorian photographer, I thought to myself "he has the eye". "The eye", while it sounds like a vague expression is rather specific. Like the greats in this genre of photojournalism, it takes a very peculiar ability to capture moments, at the right point in time, with the right angle, framing and manipulation of light. His work struck me as both documentary and surreal, which at first glance of both genres seems incongruous but upon examination of his photographs I find is exactly fitting.  His ability to utilize the camera in such a way that the very familiar world we are presented with seems far from our everyday narrative. This is reminiscent of greats like the so-called father of photojournalism, Henri Cartier-Bresson. Well yes, I genuinely think he's that good, maybe even better more so because his world is a world that I identify with it compared to that of Cartier-Bresson's, which is more foreign to me. The choice of shooting in black & white buttresses that idea even further and also adds to the heightening of this world we are accustomed to into something much more dramatic. 

Ananias Leki Dago, Bamako and Croix  # 6, 2007 

Ananias Leki Dago, Shebeen Blues  # 19, 2007

Ananias Leki Dago, Bamako and Croix  # 7, 2007 

Ananias Leki Dago, Bamako and Croix # 4, 2007

Ananias Leki Dago, Shebeen Blues  # 23, 2007

Girma Berta. 

(Moving Shadows series I and II)

Before looking into the event, I did not realise how diverse the artists would be but I was pleasantly surprised by the range of artists coming from all over Africa. I first discovered Ethiopian artist, Girma Berta through his Instagram page and I was immediately impressed and entranced by his insta-stories and posts, so it was thrilling to find that he would be part of this year's ArtX fair. In all honesty, I am struggling to put into words the emotions that emanate from Berta's work, Moving Shadow series I and II, to me. Similar to Dago, there is a manipulation, a reconstructing of his wold, even more blatantly in Berta's work, with a combination of fine art, photography and digital manipulation. He singles out characters from what seems to be a fuller 3-dimensional world turning them into a silhouette in a 2-dimensional world. Also like Dago, we recognise these characters, we know the fuller context of their world, a busy street, a roadside, a market but Berta strips away all that, that would otherwise be distracting to us now so we can focus on our protagonists. He places them in a backdrop of earthy colours, blues, greens, yellows, still reminding us of the forgone world that would have surrounded them so it's there in a less literal representation, we still know it. He simply draws a vibrant attention to the everyday characters we may overlook amidst the hustle and bustle of our own lives each passing day. 

Moving Shadows IV (2015)

Moving Shadows II, VII (2017)

Moving Shadows II, VI (2017)

Moving Shadows II, X (2017)

Moving Shadows II, II (2017)

Jeremiah Quarshie. 

(Yellow is The Colour of Water Series). 

Jeremiah Quarshie, Shooter, Yellow is the Colour of Water, 2015

I first stumbled upon this Ghanian artist on twitter when some of his paintings went viral. The first time I saw these paintings I simply assumed that the artist was female because, in the work, I saw a genuine exploration of femininity in an African context, which is something I hardly find in male artists and even less in male African artists. This comes from a place of believing that any product from a male artist is doomed to the class of the male gaze that continuously marginalises women in their representation even while flexing as a feminist or supporter of the cause (you will find more on this in an upcoming article).  Gladly, this isn't the case with Quarshie. He paints intricate portraits of diverse classes and images of African women against a thick studio-like black backdrop while yellow kegs form a throne-like seat for them to sit on. The style is reminiscent of studio photography, which isn't surprising as the pieces are a combination of physical and digital production. The work quite simply and elegantly investigates the predicament of women in society, whichever way you twist it. I have settled on the interpretation that the yellow kegs serve as a metaphor for the male gaze or male dominance in society, which is why I also find it interesting that the series is titled "Yellow is The Colour of Water". While yes, the yellow kegs are popularly used to carry water and other liquids around by mostly African women, water is also significantly one of the things we need to survive, also what we are predominantly made up of. So it is interesting that yellow and water are tied together in such a way and that the yellow kegs both surround and are seats for the women, despite what role they take on. They are doomed to rely their survival upon the yellow kegs i.e. male power i.e. patriarchy and also that it is inherently part of them in relation to humans being made up of water and also the fact that the image of yellow kegs is closely linked to that of African women. 

Jeremiah Quarshie, Ama K, Yellow is the Colour of Water, 2015

Jeremiah Quarshie, Gifty, Yellow is the Colour of Water, 2015

Jeremiah Quarshie, Manye, Yellow is the Colour of Water, 2015

Jeremiah Quarshie, Obiribea, Yellow is the Colour of Water, 2015.

Others I really liked were Modupeola Fadugba with her complex but powerful paintings, Serge Alain Nitegeka with his intricate paintings and installations and Uchay Joel Chima with his satirical photo-manipulations of stills from popular gangster films.

Thank you for reading! If you had some faves of your own, drop their name down in the comment section and be sure to come back next week for another juicy post :*.