Artists Connect at Temple Muse

With the globalisation of the world raising the boundaries on social advocacy, two Nigerian-born artists Uchay Chima and Jimmy Nwanne have joined in the discussion in the area of gender equality, girl child education and security.

Beginning from last Sunday at Temple Muse, Victory Island, Lagos, the artists displayed their recent works in an art exhibition in Lagos, which gave overview of social issues such as gender equality, girl child education, aspiration and security.

Nwanne

The show, titled Connections, showcases 37 fascinating multi-media artworks, opened on November 25. To the artists, the show was not just to give overview of social issues but to also advocate for women.

These artists are also connecting women and the world through their beautiful works with Connections. They seem to know almost the unspoken words, thoughts, motion and emotions of women and girl child, and insecurity of all sorts, which they presented in this show.

“I am interested in social and environmental issues and my work revolves around these. I have often questioned the issues of social crisis and inequality around the globe and have looked for ways to promote oneness and equality through my work,” Chima stated.

Chima

In their pursuit to advocate for women and promote girl child education through their works, most of Chima and Nwanne’s pieces in this show consist of female subjects, which are mostly young ladies.

Chima’s major works for this show are connected with strings as he chose to draw with strings rather than pencil, even though he titled one of the works: No String Attached. 

On the other hand, Nwanne’s works are connected in a way. One astonishing thing about his paintings is that they are accompanied with texts, which are very faint but readable on a closer look.

His creativity and craftsmanship are presented in a mature way in this show, even though he is presenting his works for the first in Nigeria.
 

Other works on display are: Ashes of Yesterday, Spire, and Allure. A look at Chima’s: A village Was Burnt Down, a mixed media of newspaper, charcoal and paint, one is immediately plunges into the world of torture, cruelty of Boko Haram, Chibok village and the kidnapped Chibok girls; and all the recent bombing in the country, an issues which is still burning very hot in the hearts of many. 

“What inspired it was when Boko Haram struck and the newspapers said 100s were burn in Borno State. I used charcoal to depict the houses and the newspaper represents the message,” Chima stated.

About the artistes

Chima is an established artist. He is known for his massive sculptures that

Uchay focus on environmental and social issues. A 1997 graduate of the Institute of Management and Technology, Enugu State, he majored in painting and has had numerous successful shows and art residencies in Canada, the United States and Europe.

Jimmy Nwanne is a Germany based Nigerian artist who graduated from the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka with a degree in Fine and Applied Arts in 2010.  You can call him a new comer because Connections is his first exhibition in Nigeria.