Emokpae ‘Resurrects’ In My Father’s House at Landmark

Arrangements have been concluded for the opening of the country’s latest art house, Gallery at the Landmark (GAT LDMK). The opening is set for Saturday, May 1, 2021, with a solo show by Isaac Emokpae, titled, In My Father’s House.

The gallery is opening in style with an all-day reception to the public from 11:00 am to 8:00 p.m.

According to Ighiwiyisi Jacobs, director, GAT LDMK, “the gallery is starting with a bang with the works of the son of a renowned master artist, Erhabor Emokpae.”

She said, “a second-generation artist that grew up around the extraordinary could not help but share his view of the world through an artist’s eyes. He is bursting with wisdom and knowledge that could only come at looking at the world differently and being all immersed in an outside-the-box creative home. The influence of his father is palpable.”

She said the gallery’s mission is to provide a platform for African artists, established and emerging for the consumption of the cosmopolitan viewer.”

The gallery’s director said the facility would engage and inform the layman, by bringing eye-catching, well-researched exhibitions that capture the attention and ignite the imagination of everyone it is privileged to host.”

Situated on the boulevard of the Landmark Centre, Jacobs said, “hence the tongue in cheek name. The ecosystem of the Landmark is orchestrated so that all the businesses feed off of one another and GAT LDMK is supposed to not only populate the gallery with artworks and events but will spill out into the whole of the Landmark.”

The beach alone garners a crowd of 7,000 people a week not to mention the world-class hotel, the cinema, the boulevard, Shiro and Hard Rock Cafe meaning that GAT LDMK will have access to an elite clientele that the arcade of the Landmark centre attracts,” adding, “GAT LDMK is the only gallery in Nigeria that is in walking distance from such an ecosystem. The gallery is catapulted forward by the platform of the Landmark.”

She said, “the Landmark will be enriched by the wealth and creativity of the window displays by Hermosa Design Company, the parent company for GAT LDMK. Hermosa is known for its extravagant, elaborate, thought-of-every-detail set design that will populate the windows visible from the boulevard.”

Also speaking, Hannah Oghene, curator, GAT LDMK, said, “there are plans to unveil its wonders to the metropolitan viewers who may not necessarily have a knowledge of art yet will take away the basic principle of the apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree. What one is exposed to dictates the output, the input of visual expression; observation, creative philosophy, and inquisitiveness all are present in In my Father’s House. The layman can take away these themes and even relate to them, you don’t have to be an art enthusiast to envision that charity begins at home and you learn life’s biggest lessons about how to view the world from the comfort of your own home.”

Oghene said, “our vision is to be the incremental difference on a wider narrative about Africa and African art. In the face of a narrative that is very often negative, the Gallery at the Landmark is intentionally positioned to offer an alternative interpretation to an age-old conversation.”