Ademola Ojo, on a mission to mentor young artists

Born in Modakeke, Osun State, Ademola Ojo is a young artist on a mission to mentor young ones.

For Ojo, who had his primary and secondary education at Glorious Heritage Nursery and Primary School and Modakeke High School, his passion for the arts was kindled after he had continuously observed his father’s roadside artistic works.

In 2015, he proceeded to the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, to study fine and applied arts.

Ademola said, “my dream is to transfer what I was taught to the younger generation. I want to draw their attention to the beauty and purpose of art to humanity. I’m interested in their development and would want them to embrace art at their tender age.”

He added, “children are natural lovers of art — painting, drawing, crafts and bead making, and performing on stage, either as musicians or theatre artists.”

In his Sunset Programme, he places value on arts and has seen results “from our youths engaging in activities related to art.”

He continued, “you know, art is important, because it encompasses all the areas of a child’s development. Art lends itself to physical development and the child’s motor skills. For instance, when kids play games, they fine-tune the muscle control of their fingers.”

For Ojo, “art is competitive and in contemporary Nigeria, young people are adopting a number of identities that are compatible with them. Young people choose the best of each. This shows how the young ones want to embrace art works through it roots and value. It gives young people a stronger foundation to develop a self-identity that they are comfortable with.”

While he is in love with naturalism and expressionism as means of conveying his message, Ojo uses pastel, oil colour and graphite to interrogate his creative ideas.

According to him, “naturalism describes a true-to-life style, which involves the representation or depiction of nature, including people with the least possible distortion or interpretation. There is a quasi-photographic quality to the best naturalistic paintings. A quality, which requires a minimum amount of visual details.”

Ojo, who was one of the participants at last year’s Life In My City Art (LIMCAF 2019), said he would want his works to be recognised in the art market. Some of his works that have made impact include, Lagbo faaji repete and Keep hope alive.