B'mac Art

This piece aims to resurrect and illuminate the core values and fundamental elements of the life Fela Anikulapo-Kuti lived and displayed. Fela still lives and it's important we come in unison with these values he left behind. The conversation of racism, ethnicity, bad governance, police brutality, lack of identity as a race still remain conspicuous in our daily living—painfully so, hence the need for increasing our perception of the path Fela laid on these dynamics.  There are three fundamentals to Fela. Fela the Creative. Fela the Activist/leader/rebel. Fela the Priest. Fela the creative. To have formed the genre of music called 'Afro beats' alongside Tony Allen is genius. Today, it is one of the defining African sound embellishing the globe. Fela had his style of fashion. He was always depicting his love for the African culture in his appearance. He had an excellent work ethics. One of his band members said Fela rehearsed all the time. He ensured his band rehearse 2 to 3 ...

Broken Utopia . How long shall we hope? To halt one's hope, does it mean one is weak? Must we hope all the time? How powerful is our hope? These questions rush through one's mind like a high current flow of the river. This art isn't to necessarily provide answers but to help us navigate through these questions and more. Probably, there are some hope one must hold on to and consolidate whilst there are others one must let go. Perhaps, we live when some hope are buried while we die when we kill some kind of hope. Sometimes, to live is to be hopeful. I believe there are hope shattered we must mend again while others are better left in smithereens. How do we know the difference? That's the difficulty. Things aren't always in black and white. Sometimes, we just have to trust our guts. Sometimes we have to elevate our heart's sight. Who knows? . In the depiction of the art. The upward look on the subject's face signifies hope. The dark background further emph...

"Twisted" It is possible to remain astute admist twisted societal definitions. "All men are dogs" "All women are leeches" These and more definitions are the societal air we've been forced to breathe in. To be twisted is to be content with that supposed truth which you have been told about certain gender. It is the responsibility of everyone to leave the comfort zone of the definition of life we've had all the while and seek to verify these "truths" we claim to know. Are you still habouring the facts your mum told you about men? What about that of your dad? Have you verified these claims or are you defining every woman or man you see by those definitions. It is unfair to judge the public by the sin of a person or even a group of persons. We often do get what we expect from people; if you call a lion a goat for too long, your perception of his roar would be a bleat. . It is a twisted society we live in, must you be twisted with it? We ...

In the parameters of existence, there are two principles at play when it comes to human relationships. It is the intra-personal relationships and the inter-personal relationships. For we cannot give that which we don't have. The collective relationship amongst people in a locality is hugely dependent on the their self-relationships. If I don't properly know myself, I can't know you properly. If I don't understand myself, I can't understand you properly, how can I even understand you? If I don't love myself, loving you becomes an illusion. No human is entirely single, we are all connected. Our self actions always has a reflection on others, vice versa. For there are sparks in you you alone can't ignite except as a result of your relationship with some persons. There's a narrative to the universe. A narrative of of our individual stories intertwined within one another; different connected pieces forming a larger unified picture. The artwork shows the h...

Paradox . A paradox is often defined as a self-contradictory statement which can only be true if it is false. In the third installment of the Ogbanje Series; "paradox," which is the title of this piece, talks about a person. . Life is an Ogbanje in itself because it is full of contradictions. It's amazing how we only get to live when we leave ourself to the possibility of death. Isn't it a wonder to see that we only get to really enjoy the beauty, harmony, joy in friendship whenever we allow ourselves to be vulnerable. An Ogbanje is one who lives through these paradoxes. Life can be messy sometimes, our hearts get twisted by love. But how else do we live if we don't open our hearts to the possibility of of death; hurts and agony? . A seed only grows when it is buried. It rains just after the dry season. The morning shows itself after the night. The beautiful cry of the newly born baby is only heard after the pain of labour. . The image typifies a typical O...

The esteem battle. The war within. To know where our innermost anchor is hooked upon. Is it within ourselves or with something greater than us or something we are greater than? These questions we must ask ourselves to know if we are truly living; to understand the level of humanity left in us. These series tend to depict what our true reflection really is. Are we still as human as we are supposed to be? Can we still look up in the sky however the asymmetrical imperfections within and without us? Can our esteem be hinged on something greater; love? Can we re-write our anthropology? Every component in the composition is a reflection of what is in the girl. The girl represents humanity. Looking closely at the piece you would notice the asymmetry of the woods, wig, face, ear rings, shirt on the girl. The dry woods mean stagnation. These are to symbolize imperfections. This piece points us to the fact that we can still look up in the sky in search for something greater than us; aspi...