Beyond Colours Of Enotie Ogbebor’s Missing Link

by admin

Feb 16, 2016

artdeals

By Oghogho Arthur Obayuwana on February 14, 2016 3:16 am

THE urge to sketch, sculpt, shade, mould, paint, sing and dance has propelled Enotie Ogbebor to a realisation of self and unto a high cloud – the world of the arts!

Like most greats, his talents also started to manifest from the cradle days. The manifestations jolted his parents, necessitating the hiring of an art teacher for private home lessons. Today, the only thing that seems to have sharpened his entrepreneurial spirit may just be the fact that he holds a BSC in Economics. Every other body language of his are an assemblage of artistic hues.

At his recent exhibition – Colours of a Missing Link held in Abuja, he was described by the management of the hosts – Pyramids Arts Centre, as someone who has acquired the ability to create exciting and cathartic colours from over two decades of constant studio experiment.

Colours of A Missing Link was his debut show in Abuja. It featured a collection of 41 works carefully selected from serial paintings. Guests and collectors were treated to the satisfaction that only well resolved colours give. Whether they be works reflecting the negative turn of societal values, a celebration of nature or some other themes such as royal court power, the energy of the bustle of his strokes could be felt.

On display in Abuja were paintings done with oil on canvas such as Missing Link, Untarred Dreams, Fortissimo, City Meets the Land, The Vegetable Farmers, Raining Day and Missing Link 11 which is Acrylic on canvas

Ogbebor is also regarded as an authority of sorts on Benin Court Art. Why? He has painted major festivals of the Benin Royal Palace. Not many have forgotten that in 2010 for example, he photo-documented and painted the Igue festivals with two world-acclaimed national geographic photographers – Carol Beckwith and Angela Fisher. His works have also been included in the globally acclaimed book “Benin; Kings and Rituals’’ edited by Barbara Plankensteiner. Ogbebor’s ability to retain the originality of the arts forms that make up the Benin art culture is astounding.

Of this exhibition, he said: “Colours of a missing link is my way of expressing the beauty of harmony and leading the onlooker to reflect on what causes disharmony in all facets of our lives. The hurly burly of everyday life seldom allows us to have enough moments of deep introspection about the most important questions in our lives. Questions such as Who am I? Where did I come from? What is my mission on earth? Where do I go when I die? These answers are meant to bridge the gap of the missing link, which is principally responsible for the way the world is today! The hunger, wars, terrorism, racism, crime and debauched immorality.

“This missing link is as a result of disconnect between our conscience and our intellect leading to a total focus on materialism. So I used the subjects of our environment, commerce, music, refugee migrant crisis, culture etc. to elaborate this point. The degradation of all aspects of our human existence is a sad commentary when juxtaposed with the beautiful and colourful rendering of the subjects. So I seek to inspire the viewer to leave the exhibition with a deep resolve to leave his or her corner of the earth better than they met it”

Asked what makes a good painting and a good artist, his response was as direct as a sketcher’s hand: “A good painting and a good Artist are products of passion, knowledge and consistent dedication to practice. Art is very subjective and therefore cannot have a straitjacket one-size-fits-all definition for what is good in this regard. The technical proficiency which enables an artist interpret his vision or ideas have to be acquired through learning and practice and just the birds, the sky is then big enough for all to fly!”

The Benin-City born artist elaborated on what lies behind his unflinching interest in the various aspects of arts in these words: “I seek through consistent experiments to use my Art in the quest to encourage humanity to seek for truth through beauty and harmony. I have been influenced deeply by an intuitive style of painting, sculpting with colours perceptions and experiences of my environment, people and imagery that come to me.”

And the forgoing was the reason why he documents his environment by unravelling in vivid colours, the good and the ugly, also other works such as those that highlight the plight of child hawkers. He has produced series of paintings which focus on children that are exposed to the vagaries of the streets away from school eking out a living to support their families. This scenario, he maintains is “a reflection of values gone wrong in society.”

Generally, Ogbebor’s works reveals the splendour of nature. But they run along the tracks of documenting old architecture, the chaos and energy of city life, as well as the rustic lifestyle of rural life. They have also been laid out in series which features themes like Mother and child which captures the special bond which womanhood shares with her offspring portraying also that the hope and struggle to create a good environment for her children is humanising in its selflessness. Something which is correctly seen as transcending money and power. Other themes in the series include the bouquet.

The force behind Curio set up in 1995 as a Fine/digital art studio, Ogbebor does good music also. He is an entertainer whose client base has grown to include the Oba of Benin, the banking and aviation industries as well as national and global museums. He has enhanced his global appeal also with visits to historical art and culture places like the Parthenon and Acropolis in Greece, the Pyramids of Giza, the statue of Ramses in Egypt, Safaris in Kenya, Ethiopia, the Louvre in Paris, Art Basel in Switzerland, Museums and Galleries all over the world.

Before Abuja’s Colours of a Missing Link, Ogbebor had staged some remarkable exhibitions winning the F.A.C.E awards for Best Visual Artist of the Year 2014 Atlanta, Georgia USA. That same year, he had similarly been giving L.M.A’s award for best visual Artist 2014 Lagos, Nigeria among others.

Despite the sobering, materialistic environment which currently defines Nigeria, Ogbebor still maintains that “The art sector is very vibrant in the country and has enjoyed good growth without adequate support from the government and limited support from the organised private sector.”

His only one regret is the seeming abject level of awareness of the civilising and humanizing effect of Art. He said in this regard: “The Art appreciation and collection are limited to a growing but small group of enthusiasts. The infrastructure is virtually non-existent and government investment in this very important sector is negative.”

But he is not daunted. Writing about him, the artist and Director, Harmattan workshops, Samuel Ovraiti effused: “The artist projects the visualisation of his desires through the spectrum of colour-light waves. Enotie is one artist who has succeeded in achieving this not so easy feat.

Underpinning Ogbebor’s worldview is that nature celebrates beauty. He feels therefore that humans “need to celebrate beauty more in thoughts, words and deeds and eventually only beauty will be found in all things.”