Returning to Lagos, this time, as a solo exhibitionist, Ibadan-born Abe Odedina, has expressed delight over his maiden solo exhibition, ‘Walk Like A Champion,’ holding at O’DA Gallery in Lagos.
The exhibition, which kicked off on October 28 and will run until November 18, features over 20 paintings which the artist said are a tribute to his mother whom he describes as his greatest influence and his Yoruba culture.
Odedina, who had shown at ArtX four years ago, said he was delighted with his first solo exhibition as it gives opportunity for more ‘depth’ and feels more significant for him.
“I am thrilled with what Obida Obioha has done with my work, in putting everything together. I am home, this feels right.”
The former architect turned artist said he never planned to turn to art fully but it just happened for him. “I used to do both before, but the painting slowly took more oxygen and my wife told me to go for it. One of the first major paintings I did got into the National Portrait Gallery and this made me think, ‘I could really do this.’
The self-taught painter works with acrylic on plywood and says this is a nod from his architecture background. Adding that his work is more of figurative paintings that explore abstract concepts and ideas about our shared humanity, he said the figures in his works ‘turn up’, just like West Africans used to turn up for studio pictures years ago.
This new body of work is a testament to the special and thrilling opportunity for Odedina to exhibit in Nigeria again and most importantly, to make a show for his mother, Otunba Rosalind Morolayo Odedina, ahead of the centenary of her birth. Its title, he says, is not about swagger. “It’s not about strutting around. It’s about what you think a champion is; It’s about being undeniably true to yourself. When we say “walk”, it’s in a more important sense than one foot in front of the other. It’s how you go through life. It’s the Big Walk.”
The exhibition exemplifies the artist’s personal philosophies, whilst emphasising what he is eager to communicate to his mother, to us, to the world. Odedina was given the tools to walk like this from his mother, who taught him to never be obstinate or inflexible about ideas, that you always have a choice and you have the freedom to explore. Through his practice where he embraces figurative work comfortably with abstract concepts, the artist gifts these tactics to us.
Walk like a Champion is ultimately about being comfortable with your undeniable, ever-changing self. By unapologetically employing acrylic alchemy
between different symbols and styles, Odedina births casually fantastic characters that we can see ourselves in.
“I have never been comfortable following trends and that is something she instilled in me and her lessons have guided me through life. I wanted to introduce her to my works, I want her to see the representation of what she instilled in me before she leaves this world.”
With over 20 artworks in this collection, one of his paintings, ‘The Significant Silence’ which shows a man with a padlock over his mouth, Odedina said he’s aiming to pass across the lesson of discretion. “We tend to overshare these days, everyone just wants to talk but there is something great in discretionary silence and as Yorubas, we should know what to say and when to say it. I am trying to provoke a dialogue with it as well and leave people guessing as to what I really mean.”
“I am not interested in painting big, historical moments; I am more interested in the triumphs and tragedies of our daily lives as a people. A lot of my work is focused on celebrating simple, everyday Yoruba culture, I know who I am and I am confident in that. It was the sublime quality of the artistic veneration of Orisha that got me into painting fully. My work is deeply and fully embedded in Yoruba culture. I live and breathe the culture in all I do.”
Saying he wants to enrich and preserve Yoruba culture and traditions for generations unborn, he said he is doing this through the faces of the protagonists in his paintings.
